Consultancy Services for Engineering Designs, Preparation of Environmental Final Detailed Engineering Design Report for

and Social Impact Assessments & Plans, Resettlement Action Plans and Priority Projects
Tender Assistance for Urban Infrastructure Investments in Program
Municipalities (Cluster 5; Entebbe, Masaka and Mubende)
Mubende Municipality

7. Pavement Design
7.1 General
This chapter covers the pavement design of the four priority roads in Mubende municipality
that are listed below;

 Lubanga, Church Hill Road;

 Second Link and Daudi chwa Road;

 Kasana-Kabalega-Lwabushagara Road; and

 Kyaterekera-Katwe road.

For purposes of pavement design, two parameters are required, traffic volume using the road
over the design period and sub grade strength expressed in terms of CBR. The choice of
pavement type is governed by a number of factors among which the major ones are traffic,
availability of construction materials, prevailing construction & maintenance practice and
construction costs. Hence, the following important factors are considered during pavement
options selection:

 Traffic (Baseline flow, forecast and CESAL);

 Construction Materials and geotechnical information (field survey and material

properties); and

 Sub grade (Type, Classification, and Material strength).

In summary, the findings and analysis of investigations undertaken reveal that, in line with
the MoWT Pavement Design Manual, the road to be rehabilitated will have a pavement
structure that suits the traffic and design life.

7.2 Extent of Pavement Layers

The extents of pavement layers are reported in the Table 7-1 below:

Table 7-1: Extent of Pavement Layers

Pavement Layer Type Total with Flat/Rolling

Wearing course Full width including carriage way, cycle lanes, parking lanes

Base Full width including carriage way, cycle lanes, parking lanes

Sub base Full width including carriage way, cycle lanes, parking lanes

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Mubende Municipality

7.3 Pavement Parameter

The basic inputs for the design of the pavement structures are sub grade strength, thickness
and quality of the existing pavement structure and the design traffic. The availability of
suitable and sufficient quantity of construction materials is a vital input for an economical
design. The estimated design moisture content is wet and hence design CBR based on soaked
condition of sub grade has been used for design.

7.3.1 Design Traffic

With reference to Chapter Four which discusses the calculation of the design traffic in terms
of cumulative number of ESAL, the ESA for Mubende municipality is illustrated in the Table
7-2 below:

Table 7-2: Traffic class for Mubende Municipal roads

Cumulated ESA/Traffic Class

Total
Project Roads Mubende traffic/ Traffic Class
MESA
AADT - lanes 1 > 2 50%
Lane utilization 50%
Cum ESA 15 years 1.573950702 T4
Cum ESA 20 years 2.37576832 T4

7.3.2 Analysis of Sub grade Soil

In determining the design CBR, it is necessary to classify the sub grade soils into uniform
sections by avoiding minor variations in CBR values for sake of easiness and practicality during
construction. Small pockets of localized poor sub grade soil are replaced if it falls in the new
sub grade horizon. The cumulative difference method is used for delineating uniform
sections. In this method the cumulative difference between individual measured value and
overall average is calculated. The cumulative difference calculated from individual value is
plotted against the chainage for arriving homogeneous sections.

Change in slope of the graph implies change in material property. Sections with similar slope
are regarded as soils with similar properties and are treated as uniform section. Design CBR is
calculated from 90% value from CBR value of the sections for an economical design. But
because these priority roads have short sections, the CBR value provided for was considered
on assumption the whole section is homogenous.

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Table 7-3: Sub grade Classification

oil Classes Soil Classes CBR Range (%)

S1 2
S2 3-2
S5 5-7
S4 8-14
S5 15-29
S6 30+
(Source: MoWT Pavement Design Manual, 2010)

With reference to the above table, the subgrade classification for each of the roads is as
shown in Table 7-4 below.

Table 7-4: Subgrade Classification for Priority Roads

Municipality Road Name Design CBR Subgrade CBR range Subgrade

(%) classification Verification
depth(mm)
Second Link and 16.7 S5 15-29 550
Daudi Chwa Road
Mubende Lubanga Church 16 S5 15-29 550
Municipality hill Road
Kasana-Kabalega- 15.5 S5 15-29 550
Lwabushagara
Road

Kyaterekera-katwe 17.5 S5 15-29 550

Road

7.4 Pavement Alternatives

The pavement design alternatives considered are for the wearing course i.e. Asphalt
Concrete. The cost is generally considered the most important criterion in the selection
process. For the design traffic class and subgrade class for each of these roads, the
pavement design is prepared based on MoWT Pavement Design Manual 2010. The pavement
design was also validated using other pavement design manuals namely, the TRRL Overseas
Road Note (ORN) 31. The pavement layers obtained using this manual are compared with
those obtained with MoWT manual and recommendation of the final pavement is made based
on different factors such as availability of material, economy, environmental considerations
and practicality during construction.

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7.5 Pavement Design Procedures (Determination of Pavement Layer Thickness)

7.5.1 Based on MoWT Pavement Design Manual, 2010

a) Management Consideration

The analysis period is equal to the functional period for which the road is expected to deliver
its functional service. An analysis period of 15-20 years has been chosen for this project.

Structural Design Period (SDP): The SDP is defined as the period during which it is predicted
that no structural improvement will be required (linked to the specific specified Design
Reliability: 80 to 90%). The SDP of 15-20 years is chosen for this Project.

b) Design Traffic (ESA)

The Design Traffic is expressed in terms of the number of total cumulative ESAL estimated
over the design life of the pavement. Based on the MoWT manual, the cumulative number of
traffic loading expressed in terms of ESAL is grouped in to Six Traffic Class.

c) Subgrade Soil Strength

In addition to the design traffic, design CBR of the subgrade materials is the major input for
the structural design of pavement layers. The Strength of the subgrade is usually determined
in terms of California Bearing Ratio (CBR). The design CBR is computed for section of the road
that is deemed to have homogenous subgrade characteristics. The 10th percentile value of the
laboratory CBR, above 90% of the soaked CBR values determined at 95% BS Heavy, was used
for defining the subgrade class.

d) Pavement Type

Based on the Traffic Classes and Subgrade Class, the different pavement layer and their
thickness were obtained from MoWT Design Manual. From the available Design Catalogue,
Chart W1 for granular road base and sub base. On this basis the thickness are computed for
project roads.

7.6 Surfacing Options

Design of pavements includes the design of a wearing course. A number of pavement
surfacing options can be considered. For flexible pavements, two main surfacing options are
used i.e. asphalt concrete and Surface Dressing. Use of either surfacing options is dependent
on the obtained traffic classification/loading and subgrade classification on a particular road.

In some cases, pavement design provides for use of surface dressing as the wearing course.
However, the roads under design are urban roads and therefore the expected heavy through
traffic coupled with the vigorous turning of vehicle car types will cause stripping on the
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surfaces. It is thus our recommendation Asphalt Concrete Surfacing is used. It is also

important that during the analysis period, there will be no major pavement structure
rehabilitation.

7.7 Optimization of the pavement design

In order to obtain the most economic option for pavement design while taking into account
the strength of the existing pavement, the current condition of the road, the funds available
to the municipality and appropriate use of locally available materials, the Consultant
optimized the pavement design for each project road. The optimization of design ensures
that the required strength of the pavement is achieved while providing more feasible and
practical alternatives to the achieved pavement design.

7.8 Road Condition Survey

The visual inspections were used to collect information about the road geometry, road
inventory features and road damage. The information obtained from this survey was used to
assess the road condition of the roads.

7.9 In-situ Strength tests (LWD)

Results from LWD tests, were used to predict the structural properties of the existing
pavements.

An interpretation of the LWD test results for Second Link road indicates that it has strong
pavements to carry the prevailing and forecasted traffic loads. Therefore, it is our
recommendation that the existing road base be scarified and mechanically modified (addition
of 30-40% crushed stone) to be used as the new base material and surfacing of Asphalt
concrete wearing course adopted.

Therefore, taking into account in-situ strength tests and the visual assessment of the
condition of the road, the existing pavements on Second Link road requires mechanical
modification to be used as base material as described in the special specifications.

The optimized designs are shown in the Table 7-5 (Pavement interventions) below.

7.10 Sidewalk Pavement Design

Sidewalks are essential elements in this cross-section design. The material used should be
strong enough to support pedestrians and any impact from occasional traffic. The sidewalk
will be constructed with proper grade to easily drain away water. The sidewalk way shall be
made up of G45 subbase material followed by a layer of HMA –AC20. However, it will be

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raised from the existing level with appropriate borrow material as specified by the
supervising engineer.

Should the Engineer opt to use pavers for surfacing, C30; 50mm thick machine-made uniform
pavers should tightly interlocked to avoid leaving gaps for water seepage that may cause
damages including 30mm sand bedding and filling of joints with fine sand.

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Table 7-5: Pavement intervention

MUBENDE MUNICIPALITY

Pavement Materials
Design Pavement Intervention (Adopted/Designed Remarks
pavement)
Base on MoWT
Traffic Sub grade Design Manual
Road Name
Class Class (Chart W1:
Surface
Granular Base course Sub base
Course
base/granular
subbase-wet
conditions))
50mm Hot Mix Surface Reconstruction construct a new pavement
Asphalt (HMA) Dressing structure with:
concrete (SD)
136mm -Wearing course of AC20;
150 mm Granular
base (GB) GB -Base course:
Reconstruct
202mm (CRR-coarse type)
GSB -Sub base:
Second Link and 50mm 150mm 150mm (mechanical modification
Daudi Chwa T4 S5
Hot Mix Granular Granular of G15 material by adding
Road (partially Asphalt Base Sub-base 40%CRR-coarse type to
paved) 125 mm Granular form G30 sub base
Sub-Base(GSB) material),
-Sub grade:
(150mm G15 improved)
The design subgrade CBR
should be equivalent ant a
verification depth of

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MUBENDE MUNICIPALITY

Pavement Materials
Design Pavement Intervention (Adopted/Designed Remarks
pavement)
Base on MoWT
Traffic Sub grade Design Manual
Road Name
Class Class (Chart W1:
Surface
Granular Base course Sub base
Course
base/granular
subbase-wet
conditions))
550mm otherwise apply a
fill material of
G7 material (where
applicable)
Structural Number (SN)
SN: 2.303
Upgrading construct a new pavement
Kasana- structure with:
Kabalega-
50mm Hot Mix -Wearing course of AC20;
Lwabushagara -
Asphalt concrete
Bypass -Base course: Upgrade to paved
(Unpaved Road) 50mm 150mm 150mm standards
T4 S5 (CRR-coarse type)
Hot Mix Granular Granular
Asphalt Base Sub-base -Sub base:
150 mm Granular
Lubanga Church -
base (mechanical modification
hill road
(Unpaved Road) 125 mm Granular of G15 material by adding
- 40%CRR-coarse type to
sub-base

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MUBENDE MUNICIPALITY

Pavement Materials
Design Pavement Intervention (Adopted/Designed Remarks
pavement)
Base on MoWT
Traffic Sub grade Design Manual
Road Name
Class Class (Chart W1:
Surface
Granular Base course Sub base
Course
base/granular
subbase-wet
conditions))
form G30 sub base
Kyaterekera-
material),
Katwe
RoadUnpaved -Sub grade:
Road)
(150mm G15 improved)
The design subgrade CBR
- should be equivalent ant a
Structural Number (SN) verification depth of
550mm otherwise apply a
SN: 2.303 fill material of
G7 material (where
applicable)

50mm 150mm 150mm

Hot Mix Granular Granular
Asphalt Base Sub-base

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Lubanga 150 mm Granular

-
Church hill base
road (Unpaved
Road) -

Kyaterekera-
125 mm Granular
Katwe
sub-base
RoadUnpaved
Road)
-

Structural Number (SN) SN: 2.303

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