UNITY UNIVERSITY

DEPARTEMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING &

CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT

HIGHWAY ENGINEERING - II
(CENG4302)
CHAPTER- 7
Structural Design of Pavements
October 4, 2021
(BERHANU G.)

©Berhanu G/yohannes 2018/19

1
 CONTENTS
❑ Flexible Pavement Design – TRL/ERA Method
❑ Design of Gravel Road – ERA Method
❑ Flexible Pavement Design - AASHTO Method
❑ Design of Rigid Pavement – ERA method Reading
❑ Design of Rigid Pavement – AASHTO method Assignment

2
 Traffic is the major factor in pavement design and
stress analysis.

 Traffic constitutes the load imparted on the pavement

causing the stresses, strains and deflections in the
pavement layers and the subgrade.

 Hence the pavement design must account for the

amount of traffic load expected over its design life.

3
• The design of flexible pavements presented here (ERA) is
based on the catalog of pavement structures of TRL Road
Note 31.

• Before the catalog is used, the elements described

regarding traffic and subgrade should be considered.

• Simultaneously, the information regarding availability, costs

and past experience with materials should be gathered.

• The various charts correspond to distinct combinations of

surfacing and road base materials.
• The choice of chart will depend on a variety of factors but should
be based on minimizing total costs.

• Factors that will need to be taken into account in a full evaluation

include:
▪ The likely level and timing of maintenance
▪ The probable behavior of the structure
▪ The experience and skill of contractors and the availability of
suitable equipment
▪ The cost of the different materials that might be used
▪ Other risk factors
9
Given
• The total ESAs over the design period = 20millions.
• The subgrade strength has been represented by CBRs of 5
to 7

Soln
 Traffic class T8
 Subgrade class to be assigned to this project is therefore S3
• Based on the above, and with the T8/S3 combination of traffic and
subgrade strength classes, the design charts 4 to 7 indicate the possible
alternate pavement structures as:
Design Example: Possible Pavement Structures

12
 Gravel road pavements are generally utilized for roads
where design traffic flow Annual Average Daily Traffic
(AADT) is less than 200
 Major Gravel Roads (AADT 20 to 200): These will
generally fall within the design category of DS5 to DS8
 Minor Gravel Roads (AADT < 20): These roads
generally fall within the design category of DS9 to
DS10
 Traffic (Baseline flow and forecast)
 Material and geotechnical information (Field survey and
material properties)
 Subgrade (Classification, foundation for expansive soils and
material strength)
 Thickness design (Gravel wearing coarse thickness)
 Materials design
 The required gravel thickness shall be determined as follows:
 1. Determine the minimum thickness necessary to avoid
excessive compressive strain in the subgrade (D1).
 2. Determine the extra thickness needed to compensate for the
gravel loss under traffic during the period between
regravelling operations (D2).
 3. Determine the total gravel thickness required by adding the
above two thicknesses (D1+ D2).
 Where
◦ GL = the annual gravel loss measured in mm
◦ T = the total traffic volume in the first year in both directions,
measured in thousands of vehicles
◦ R = the average annual rainfall measured in m
◦ V = the total (rise + fall ) as a percentage of the length of the road
◦ f = 0.94 to 1.29 for lateritic gravels
◦ = 1.1 to 1.51 for quartizitic gravels
◦ = 0.7 to 0.96 for volcanic gravels (weathered lava or tuff)
◦ = 1.5 for coral gravels
◦ = 1.38 for sandstone gravels
 The wearing course of a new gravel road shall have a
thickness D calculated from:
 D = D1 + N. GL
 Where D1 is the minimum thickness read from Figure (Next
Slide)
 N is the period between regravelling operations in years
 GL is the annual gravel loss
S15 – Min CBR = 15%
S7 - CBR 7-14%
S3 – CBR 3 – 6%
 Design Considerations
◦ Traffic
◦ Pavement performance
◦ Roadbed soils (subgrade material)
◦ Materials of construction
◦ Drainage
◦ Reliability
TRAFFIC
 The total load applications due to all the mixed traffic within the
design period are converted to the 18-kip (80KN) ESAL
(Equivalent single axle load), W 18 (traffic load), using the axle
load equivalency factors for each axle weight.
 W18 = DD x DL x W18’
Where, DD = a directional distribution factor
DL = a lane distribution factor
W18’= the cumulative two-direction 18 -kip ESAL
Typical percentage of ESAL in design lane
No of lanes in Each Direction Percent 80KN ESAL in Design
lane
1 100
2 80 - 100
3 60 - 50
4 50 - 75

23
 This factor provides a predetermined level of assurance (R %)
that pavement sections will survive the period for which they
were designed.

Recommended levels of reliability

Class of highway Urban Rural

Interstate freeways 85 – 99.9 80 – 99.9
Principal airfields 80 – 99 75 – 99
Collectors 80 – 95 75 – 95
Local 58 - 80 50 - 80

24
reliability factor is defined as:
Log10FR = -ZR.S0
Where, FR = Reliability Factor
ZR = Standard normal variance for a given reliability
S0 = 0.45 for flexible pavement
S0 = 0.35 for rigid pavement

25
 Serviceability of a pavement is defined as its ability to serve the
type of traffic which use the facility, denoted by Serviceability
loss (ΔPSI )
ΔPSI = po − pt
Δ PSI = Pavement Serviceability Index, 1 < Δ PSI < 5
po = Initial Serviceability Index(ISI)
For Flexible pavements: 4.2, Rigid pavement: 4.5
pt = Terminal Serviceability Index(TSI)
Item Value Pavement Type Source
Po 4.2 Flexible AASHO
Po 4.5 Rigid AASHO
TSI 2.5 Major Highway AASHTO
TSI 2.0 Other pavement types AASHTO
26
27
The basis for sub grade soil property is Resilient Modulus (MR).
Determination Procedures (Refer next slide)
 A year is divided into 12 periods, and the resilient modulus of the
roadbed soil in each period is determined and entered in the second
column in the figure.
 The corresponding relative damage value from the resilient
modulus is determined from the scale or the formula:

Uf = 1.8 x 108 x MR-2.32

The averaged Uf is then used to determine the effective resilient
modulus of the road bed soil, again in the same procedure stated in
No.

28
 Chart for estimating effective
roadbed soil resilient modulus
for flexible pavements design
using the serviceability criteria
 Resilient modulus of subgrade
can also be determined
indirectly fro subgrade CBR
 Mr [Mpa] = 10CBRdesign
 Mr [PSI] = 1500CBRdesign

29
 Structural number is indicative of pavement thickness and pavement
materials given by
SN=a1D1+a2D2m2+a3D3m3

Where, ai = layer coefficient of layer i

Di = thickness of layer i
mi = drainage modifying factor for layer i

 Layer coefficient (ai)

It is a measure of the relative effectiveness of a given material to
function as a structural component of the pavement.

30
31
32
33
Drainage modifying factor (mi):This coefficient depends on the
quality of drainage and percentage of time the pavement
structure is saturated.

34
Drainage modifying factor (mi):This coefficient depends on the
quality of drainage and percentage of time the pavement
structure is saturated.

35
 General Procedures for Selection of Layer Thickness.
1. Determine the structural number SN1 required to protect the base and
compute the thickness of layer 1 (D1)

D1  SN1/a1
2. Determine the structural number SN2 required protecting the sub base
and computing the thickness of layer 2 (D2):

D2  (SN2 – a1 D1)/a2 m2

3. Determine the structural number SN3 required protecting the road bed
soil.

D3  (SN3 – a1 D1-a2m2D2)/a3 m3

36
• Solving for structural number from the performance equation is
difficult unless using trial and error method

• The monographs used for determining the design structural

number required for the specific input conditions.The inputs
required are W18, R, S0, Mr and Δ PSI.
37
38
Example
 Example from previous chapter the traffic analysis results
20.7 million ESAL. Given subgrade Mr = 6000Psi, ΔPSI =
2.5, required reliability 95%, overall standard deviation So =
0.35 and based on information summarized in the table below
design pavement thickness
Materials Layer Resilient Strength Drainage
modulus (Ksi) coefficient ai coefficients mi
Asphalt concrete Surface 450 0.40
Crushed stone Base 30 0.14 1.0
Crushed stone Sub base 15 0.11 0.9

39
40
  From chart SN1= 3.5, SN2 = 4.25 and SN3 = 5.5
 D1 = 3.5/0.4 = 8.75 in take 9in
 D2 = (SN2 – a1 D1)/a2 m2 ➔ D2 = (4.25 – 0.4*9)/(0.14* 1.0) = 4.64in
take 5in less than 6in so D2 =6inch
 D3 = (SN3 – a1 D1-a2m2D2)/a3 m3
D3 = (5.5 – 0.4 *9 – 0.14*1.0*6)/(0.11*0.9) = 10.71in take 11in
Check thickness using equation
SN=a1D1+a2D2m2+a3D3m3 = 0.4*9+.14*6*1+.11*11*.9 = 5.529
∆𝑃𝑆𝐼
log
log 𝑊18 = 𝑍𝑅 𝑆𝑜 + 9.36 log 𝑆𝑁 + 1 − 0.2 + 4.2 − 1.5 + 2.32 log 𝑀 − 8.07
1094 𝑅
0.4 +
𝑆𝑁 + 1 5.19
2.5
log
4.2 − 1.5
log 𝑊18 = −1.645 ∗ 0.35 + 9.36 log 5.529 + 1 − 0.2 + + 2.32 log 6000 − 8.07 = 7. . 4746
1094
0.4 + 5.19
5.529 + 1

W18 = 29.82million ESAL >>20.7 safe! But it looks uneconomical 41

THANK YOU!

42
End of Course

43