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ANALYSIS OF ROAD PAVEMENT FAILURE CAUSED BY SOIL PROPERTIES ALONG

ADOEKITI -AKURE ROAD, NIGERIA

Article · February 2014

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International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and
Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014
©Avi-D Publishers 2014
www.avidpublishers.ca

ANALYSIS OF ROAD PAVEMENT FAILURE CAUSED BY SOIL

PROPERTIES ALONG ADOEKITI - AKURE ROAD, NIGERIA

Adams J.O. Adetoro A. E.

Civil Engineering Department, Civil Engineering Department,
The Federal Polytechnic, The Federal Polytechnic,
Ado – Ekiti, Nigeria. Ado – Ekiti, Nigeria.

Abstract
It is a known fact throughout the world that the conditions of any road largely depend upon its
geotechnical properties. Some samples of soil were collected for laboratory tests in order to
analyse some geotechnical properties of Ado-Ekiti - Akure road. The results showed that the soil
materials used along the road have high and low percentages of clayey and silt/gravel/sand
materials respectively (rated as fair to poor materials for road use). The Natural and Optimum
Moisture Contents are high for all the Base, Sub-base and Sub-grade courses samples. The
Maximum Dry Density (MDD) is quite very lower than the expected specified values for the
base, sub-base and sub-grade courses with the exception of few samples. The Plasticity Indices
and Liquid limits are very high for both Base and Sub-base Courses, while that of Sub-grade
course met the required specification values for all samples. Most of California Bearing Ratio
(CBR) values for the Base course did not meet specification requirements while that of Sub-base
and Sub-grade courses did. Conclusively, the pavement failure may not necessarily be due to
weak subbase and subgrade except where compaction is inadequate. Whereas the materials used
for the base course are likely to be of poor quality.

Key words: California Bearing Ratio, Liquid limit, Maximum Dry Density, Optimum Moisture
Contents, Plasticity Index.
system comprising the sub-grade (support),
1.0 Introduction sub-base, base course and surfacing. Its
A pavement section may be generally principal function is to receive load from the
defined as the structural material placed traffic and transmits it through the layers to
above a sub-grade layer. In asphaltic
pavement, it is typically a multi-layered
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014

the sub-grade (Adrox and Wood, 2002;

Kadiyali, 1989). The objective of this study is to assess and
A pavement is said to be defective, when it analyze some geotechnical properties of the
can no longer perform this function during soil materials used for the construction of
its design life. Most roads in Nigerian cities Akure – Ado Ekiti road, thus influence its
today are characterized by failure of all failure.
kinds like potholes, cracks, depression, ruts
etc. and there is not just one reason for each The results of this study will provide reliable
type of failure. A survey of the roads under technical information on the geotechnical
investigation has however revealed that properties of soil materials in Ado-Ekiti,
these roads and highways suffer incessant Akure and their environs. It will also
failures. Komolafe (2006) stated that “the provide useful guidelines for Civil
state of Nigeria roads stands out like a sore Engineers and Builders in selection of
thumb and their national picture is simply materials for the construction and
scandalous”. This makes them difficult rehabilitation of roads especially in tropical
needs, because people are confronted with environment like Southwestern Nigeria.
delays due to traffic congestion and
accidents that have claimed lives of bread 2.0 Materials and Methods
winners of many homes. The research work is within the failed
section of Ado Ekiti - Akure road whereby
Generally, previous researches show that soil samples were taken from the subgrade,
roads failed due to negligence of road subbase and base layers of the road for six
maintenance, inadequacies in design and different chainages/locations. The location
poor workmanship, poor soil properties like for the soil samples are:
low CBR and high liquid limits etc among (i) Chainage 1+075 - Sample A
others (Adeleke and Madebor, 2007; Jegede, (ii) Chainage 1+850 - Sample B
2004; Ogundipe, 2001). (iii) Chainage 3+325 - Sample C
This research intends to analyze, whether (iv) Chainage 8+500 – Sample D
there are any relationships between the poor (v) Chainage 22+300 – Sample E
performance of the roads and the properties (vi) Chainage 28+750 – Sample F
of the materials on which and with which The soil samples were selected as
these roads were constructed. representative samples after tests had been
2
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014

carried out on these samples. After

collection, soil samples were stored in
polythene bags to prevent loss of moisture
contents. The samples were then taken to the
laboratory where the deleterious materials
such as roots were removed. The samples
were air dried, broken down with mortar and
pestle and passed through a set of sieve (i.e.
from Sieve No. 10 (18.75mm) to Sieve No. 1
(0.075mm)) to remove large particles.
Moulding of test specimens was started as
soon as possible after completion of
identification. All tests were performed
according to standard methods contained in
BS 1377 (1990). Their properties were
studied and determined to ensure that all
relevant factors would be available for
establishment of correlations among them.
The tests carried out on each of the selected
samples are Particle size distribution,
Atterberg limits (i.e. Liquid Limits (LL),
Plastic Limit (PL) and Plasticity Index (PI)),
Compaction (i.e. Optimum Moisture
Content (OMC) and Maximum Dry Density
(MDD)) and California Bearing Ratio
(CBR). The results were compared to the
standard specified values and grouped in
accordance with General Specification for
roads and bridges (FMWH, 1997) and
American Association of State Highway and
Transportation Officials (AASHTO, 1986)
respectively.
3
3.0 Results and Discussion
Table 1: Summary of test results on soil samples
The summary of results of respective
properties of selected samples is presented
in Table 1 while Figures 1 - 6 also show
their respective correlations/graphs. The
results show that many of the soil samples
had a very high percentage finer than 0.0075
fractions (i.e. >35%), which varied between
57% and 86% for base course (i.e. Samples
C, D, E & F), 37% and 59% for sub-base
course (i.e. Samples B, D, E & F), 43 and
72% for sub-grade course (i.e. Samples A,
C, D, E & F), respectively. Hence, general
rating as sub-grade (in accordance with
AASHTO (1986)) is fair to poor materials.
They have significant constituent materials
of mainly clayey soils while few are silty or
clayey gravel and sand whereby the %
passing № 200 sieve is <35%.
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014
Figure 1: Liquid limits tests graphs of Subgrade for
the Soil Samples.
From Figure 1 and Table 1, it is observed
that both LL and PI values are less than the
respective specified values (i.e. LL ≤ 80%
and PI ≤ 55%) for the sub-grade course
materials in all chainages thus meet the
require specification for the sub-grade
course. Most of them are grouped into A-2-
6, A-6 and A-7 (A-7-5 or A-7-6) in
AASHTO classification system.
Figure 2: Liquid limits tests graphs of Subbase for
the Soil Samples.
4
Figure 3: Liquid limits tests graphs of Base for the
Soil Samples.
From Figures 2, 3 and Table 1, it is observed
that both LL and PI values are higher than
the respective specified values (i.e. LL ≤
35% and PI ≤ 12%) for both the base and
sub-base courses materials in almost all the
chainages.
Figure 4: Compaction tests graphs of Subgrade
course for the Soil Samples
From Figure 4 and Table 1, it is observed
that the OMC and MDD varied between
7.8% and 22.15%, 1122 and 1990kg/m3 for
sub-grade respectively in all the chainages.
The MDD values of sub-grade course are
less than the specified value (i.e. MDD >
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014
1760kg/m3) in all chainages with exception
of chainages 1+850 and 3+325 (i.e. samples
B and C with MDD values of 1850 and
1990kg/m3 respectively).
Figure 5: Compaction tests graphs of Subbase
course for the Soil Samples
From Figure 5 and Table 1, it is observed
that the OMC and MDD varied between
9.2% and 16.0%, 1360 and 2180kg/m3 for
sub-base respectively in all the chainages.
The MDD values of sub-base course are less
than the specified value (i.e.
3
>2000kg/m ) in all chainages with exception
of chainage 1+850 (i.e. Sample B with
MDD value of 2180kg/m3).
Figure 6: Compaction tests graphs of Base course
for the Soil Samples
From Figure 6 and Table 1, it is observed
that the OMC and MDD varied between
8.2% and 16.2%, 1501 and 1940kg/m3 for
base respectively in all the chainages. The
MDD values of base course at every
chainages are less than the specified value
(i.e. MDD >2000kg/m3).
The above results implied that all the soil
materials for these courses along the
chainages are not suitable (with exception of
chainages 1+850 and 3+325 for sub-grade
course only, which are considered suitable).
From Table 1, it is observed that the soaked
CBR values for sub-grade course materials
varied between 27.56% and 120.24% in all
the chainages, which are greater than the
specified value (i.e. Soaked CBR ≥ 5%).
MDD The unsoaked CBR values varied between
26.30% and 106.46% for base course
materials in all the chainages, which are less
than the specified value (i.e. Unsoaked CBR
≥ 80%) with exception of chainage 1+075
(i.e. Unsoaked CBR is 106.46%). While the
soaked CBR values for sub-base course
materials varied between 26.30% and
113.98% in all the chainages, which are
greater than the specified value (i.e. Soaked
CBR ≥ 30%) with exception of chainage
28+750 (i.e. Soaked CBR is 26.30%).
5
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014
The above results implied that all the soil
materials for base course along the
chainages are not suitable (with exception of
chainage 1+075, which is considered
suitable). While all the soil materials for
sub-base and sub-grade courses along the
chainages are suitable (with exception of
chainage 28+750 for sub-base course only).
4.0 Conclusion and Recommendation
From this study, it can be deduced that:
i) The moisture content values from the
results obtained in all the chainages
showed that the values are fairly high
which may be due to the soils’ high
potential of retaining water.
ii) Most of the significant constituent
materials used for sub-grade and sub-
base courses are mainly clayey soils,
which showed the reason for the soils’
high potential of retaining water.
iii) The materials used for the base course
are likely to be of poor quality.
Generally, the implication of the above
analyses is that failure may not necessarily
be due to weak sub base and sub grade
except where compaction is inadequate.
Thus, it is recommended that the lateritic
base course should be removed and replace
with stone base. The sub-base with suitable
or good quality materials of minimum group
6
classification of A-2-4 or A-2-5, for all the
failed segments of the road should be used
in replacement of unsuitable materials
earlier used. It is of essence to make use of
good stabilizing agent for the sub-grade
course due to the type of lateritic soils (i.e.
clayey soils) used for it. Any materials to be
used for the road rehabilitation must be in
strict compliance with the specified values.
Adequate drainage system should also be
provided to sustain the lifespan of the road.
References
1. Adeleke, O. A. & Madebor, A.O. (1987).
Effect of Hydrated Lime on the Atterberg
Limits of Black Cotton Soil of Nigeria.
9th Regional Conference for Africa on
Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, 1, 155 - 160.
2. Adrox, J. W. & Woods, W. R. (2002), A
General Characterization of Pavement
System Failures with Emphasis on a
Method for Selecting Repair Process.
Journal of Construction Education, 7(1),
58 - 62.
3. American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials, AASHTO
(1986). Standard Specification for
Transportation Materials and Methods of
Sampling and Testing (14th ed.). USA:
Washington DC, AASHTO.
International Journal of Novel Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJNREAS) 1(1) February 2014

4. BS1377. (1990). British Standard 7. Kadiyali, L.R. (1989). Highway

rd
Methods of test for Soils for Civil Engineering (3 ed.). New Delhi: CBS
Engineering Purposes. London: British Publishers & Distributors Pvt Ltd.
Standards Institution. 8. Komolafe, K. (2006). The Shame of the
5. Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Nigeria Roads. Thisday Newspaper
FMWH (1997). General Specification Edition, Nigeria. Retrieved July 26,
(Roads and Bridges) – Revised Edition 2013, from http://www.thisdaylive.com
(Volume II). Abuja: Federal Ministry of 9. Ogundipe, O. M. (2008). Road Pavement
Works. Failure Caused by Poor Soil Properties
6. Jegede, G. (2004). Highway Pavement along Aramoko-Ilesha Highway Nigeria.
Failure Induced by Poor Geotechnical Medwell Journal of Engineering and
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