Premature Cracking from Cement-Treated Base

and Treatment to Mitigate Its Effect

Dar-Hao Chen, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE1; Feng Hong, Ph.D., P.E.2; and Fujie Zhou, Ph.D., P.E.3

Abstract: A forensic study was conducted to investigate the premature cracking distress on an ongoing construction project on State High-
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way (SH) 24. Transverse cracks occurred at approximately every 9–15 m (30–50 ft) along the 9.6 km (5.9 mi) project. The field tests involved
both destructive tests, including trenching and coring, and nondestructive tests, including falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and ground-
penetrating radar (GPR) tests. The laboratory tests mainly included cement-treated base material and asphalt mixture material series tests.
By integrating all the test results, it was concluded that the premature cracking was originating from the cement-treated base (CTB). Although
CTB is not a new concept in pavement construction, stabilization of base materials is a complex process, which, if not handled properly, may
lead to premature failures. The two primary factors that contributed to the premature failure are (1) an excessive amount of cement in the CTB,
and (2) a high moisture content when the CTB was compacted (almost 2% above optimum moisture). It was believed the possibility of
premature failure could be reduced significantly, if the lab verification tests were conducted on the CTB before construction started. Pavement
life analysis was conducted to evaluate the current structure adequacy to sustain future traffic. In addition, extensive material design was
conducted for the final wearing course asphalt mixture, which was intended to mitigate the effect of existing cracks by resisting crack
propagation from the underlying structure. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000140. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
CE Database subject headings: Cracking; Cement; Forensic engineering; Pavements.
Author keywords: Premature cracking; Cement-treated base; Reflective cracking; CTB.

Background
A Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) district requested
a forensic investigation of premature cracking distress on an
ongoing construction project on SH 24. Transverse cracks occurred
at approximately every 9–15 m (30–50 ft) along the project, as
shown in Fig. 1(a). The project was a total of 9.6 km (6 mi) long,
all of which had transverse cracks. This was brand new pavement
on a new roadbed that had not been widened or reconstructed. The
estimated 20-year (2007–2027) traffic for SH 24 is 3.6 million
80 kN (18 kip) equivalent single-axle loads (ESALs). The existing
pavement structure at the time of this study consisted of 8 cm (3 in.)
of asphalt concrete (AC) with Type B (a normally used dense-grade
mixture according to TxDOT specifications) hot-mix asphalt
(HMA), tack coat, 28 cm (11 in.) of cement-treated base (CTB)
(3% of cement by weight), 20 cm (8 in.) of lime-treated subgrade
(LTS), and natural subgrade. The district reported that the trans-
verse cracks started to appear on the surface after rainfall. At the
beginning of this investigation, the responsible district wanted to
1
Professor, Changsha Univ. of Science and Technology, Chiling Road
45#, Changsha, Hunan, P.R. China, 410076; and Pavement Engineer, Texas
Dept. of Transportation, 4203 Bull Creek #39, Austin, TX 78731. E-mail:
dchen@dot.state.tx.us
2
Transportation Engineer, Texas Dept. of Transportation, 4203 Bull
Creek #39, Austin, TX 78731. E-mail: fhong@dot.state.tx.us
3 tested by TxDOT, Flexible Pavements Branch of the Materials and
Assistant Research Scientist, Texas A&M Texas Transportation
Institute, 3135 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3135. E-mail: f-zhou@
ttimail.tamu.edu
Note. This manuscript was submitted on December 15, 2009; approved
on March 27, 2010; published online on April 8, 2010. Discussion period
open until September 1, 2011; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Performance of
Constructed Facilities, Vol. 25, No. 2, April 1, 2011. ©ASCE, ISSN
0887-3828/2011/2-113–120/$25.00.
seal the cracks with seal coat as soon as possible to prevent water
from infiltrating into the base and subgrade.
A 1,216 m (4,000 ft) section was selected for a detailed inves-
tigation. This section was viewed by the district as a typical section
that has a similar distress pattern as the other 8 þ km (5 þ mi).
Within the 1,216 m (4,000 ft) section, 86 transverse cracks were
identified by visual survey.
Based on field experience, one of the causes of asphalt pave-
ment transverse cracks in Texas is heaving of the subgrade material
(Si 2008; Chen et al. 2009). However, no noticeable bumps were
detected at the crack locations when driving on the pavement. The
field observations revealed that the cracks that occurred on SH 24
are not associated with heaves or bumps, and these cracks did not
cause ride discomfort. Subgrade heaving excluded, the focus of this
forensic study was placed on other aspects, which include pave-
ment material and mechanistic properties. In-depth analysis was
carried out based on coring, trenching, and nondestructive testing
in the field, and laboratory tests. Nondestructive testing consists of
ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and falling weight deflectometer
(FWD). Detailed information on GPR theory, principles, and appli-
cation is given elsewhere (Chen and Scullion 2007). The GPR tech-
nology has been used on a routine basis in Texas for almost
15 years for identifying defects in pavements. The FWD has been
used routinely in Texas for pavement evaluation, and the details can
be found in literature (Chen et al. 2006). The HMA cores were
Pavements Section, Construction Division. The CTB was tested in
the laboratory by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). In addi-
tion, the remaining pavement life is estimated based on the existing
structure and mechanistic properties. This will serve to provide an
indication of the existing pavement’s structural capacity to support
the future traffic. Finally, based on problems identified through
extensive field and laboratory tests and performance analysis,

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J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.

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Fig. 1. Distress survey with trenching and coring in the field
recommendations for mitigating the problems are provided and
implemented accordingly.
Objectives
Investigations of pavement failures are critical, as the lessons
learned can be used to identify the underlying cause of the problem,
improve pavement design standards and construction practices,
and develop an optimal rehabilitation strategy. CTB is not a new
concept in pavement construction. However, stabilization of base
materials is a complex process which, if not handled properly, may
lead to premature failures. CTB has been used successfully by
TxDOT to address ever-increasing traffic volume and at locations
where subgrade quality is poor. In general, TxDOT has been very
happy with historic CTB performance.
This is a unique project with specific problems and expected
solutions. The main objectives of the study are as follows:
1. Determine the cause(s) of the premature cracking. Field FWD,
GPR, trenching, and lab testing were conducted. By the pro-
cess of elimination, the most possible cause(s) was determined.
2. Evaluate the adequacy of the structural capacity. FWD data and
the MODULUS backcalculation program were utilized to
derive the layer moduli. Based on the determined layer moduli,
a pavement design and analysis program was employed to
evaluate the adequacy of the structural capacity.
3. Provide remedy for the existing cracked pavement. Extensive
lab tests were conducted to design a crack-resistant HMA
wearing surface.
Findings and Causes of Failure
Based on extensive field and lab testing on SH 24, it was found that
two primary factors contributed to the premature failure: (1) an
excessive amount of cement in the cement-treated base; (2) a high
114 / JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011
J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.
moisture content when the material was compacted (almost 2%
above optimum moisture). Based on the condition of the cores
removed from the cracked areas, it appears that the CTB is very
stiff. The measured FWD deflections are very low [approximately
13 × 10
3 mm (5 × 10
3 in:) at a 40 kN (9,000 lb) load] and the
back-calculated modulus is extremely high, exceeding 13,780 MPa
(2,000 ksi). The laboratory unconfined compressive strength (UCS)
tests on a 7-day lab model specimen indicated that the strength was
3.7 MPa (544 psi), even when the cement content was as low as
2%. At 3% cement, the UCS exceeds 600 psi. This means the
aggregates used in this project react intimately to the cement.
A concentration of 3% cement is a typical design value for
CTB in the district.
The Portland Cement Association recommends that the cement
content be selected such that the UCS is about 2.1 MPa (300 psi).
Further laboratory testing indicated that this particular base needs
only 1.5% cement to reach 2.1 MPa (300 psi) UCS. Detailed
observations and findings from various tests are given in the
following.
Observations from Trenching and Coring
To identify the extent of a crack through the pavement, a trench was
cut and the different pavement layers were removed one at a time
[Fig. 1(b)]. In addition, more than 20 cores were taken at the
cracked and intact areas, respectively [Figs. 1(c) and 1(d)]. The
key observations are listed as follows:
• From the trenching observation, the widest cracks were within
the CTB layer, as shown in Fig. 1(b). Although cracks were
observed in both the LTS and AC layers, the width of the cracks
in the LTS was much less than in the CTB layer. It is believed
that both CTB and LTS contributed to the cracking distress, with
the CTB playing a major role.
• Although there are wide cracks in the CTB layer, an entire core
can be extracted, as shown in Fig. 1(c). Normally, a cracked
CTB would disintegrate during the coring and extracting
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Fig. 2. Field observation of water at pavement edge and proposed correction method with edge drain
process. This CTB layer apparently has very high strength and
stiffness.
• The AC layer is bonded very well to the CTB layer, as shown in
Fig. 1(c). The AC portion remained firmly attached to the base
layer during the coring operation.
• Free water was observed coming out of the CTB layer when
holes on both sides of the pavement were dug, as shown in
Fig. 2. In approximately 30 min, 20 cm (8 in.) of water
accumulated in the hole. The water was seen flowing out of
the CTB layer, which apparently contains a significant amount
of moisture. The CTB was wet at the trench location [refer to
Fig. 1(b)]. The GPR results also indicated that the base layer is
saturated, as discussed later.
• The observation from the trenching and the AC cores revealed
that the CTB cracked all the way through (continuously). It is
believed that the cracks are originated from the CTB and not
from the AC. The likelihood of cracking initiating from the
AC layer is very low because top-down cracks from the AC
to base layer are generally associated with traffic loading while
this pavement has not yet been opened to traffic.
Ground-Penetrating Radar Test
A noncontact GPR was employed to survey the pavement section
of interest (refer to Fig. 3). Electromagnetic waves are transmitted
from the GPR’s antenna to the subsurface pavement layers.
A receiver records the arrival time and magnitude of the reflected
wave from each pavement layer interface. The electrical property,
referred to as the dielectric constant, can be obtained from the
relative wave magnitudes. Different materials have different
dielectric constants. For example, the dielectric constant for typical
dry AC is around 4 to 6. The typical CTB and LTS dielectric con-
tents should be in the range of 6 to 8. In general, an increase of
moisture in a layer will increase the dielectric constant. The GPR
results reveal that the CTB and LTS have a high dielectric (≫ 11),
JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011 / 115
J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.
which indicates a high moisture content, as illustrated in Fig. 3.
As an example, the wave trace from a randomly selected point
shows that the measured dielectric contents for both the CTB
and LTS layers exceed 11.5. Compared with the typical data along
the surveyed sections in previous studies, the dielectric constants
for this 1,216 m (4,000 ft) are consistently high. It can be concluded
that the moisture content in both CTB and LTS layers are well
above the normal value. Before the GPR survey, there had been
no rain in this area for at least 30 days. However, since excessive
moisture was found in the base layer, district personnel are wonder-
ing about the source of the moisture. Even after this investigation,
the source of the water still remains unknown.
Falling Weight Deflectometer Test
A series of FWD tests were performed on top of and about 5–12 m
(10 to 15 ft) away from each crack. A total number of 86 FWD
tests were conducted between adjacent cracks, and 86 FWD tests
were conducted on top of the cracks. The FWD data are used
for three purposes: (1) evaluating a pavement structure capacity,
(2) calculating load transfer efficiency (LTE) across cracks, and
(3) obtaining the structural layer’s modulus. The modulus for
each structural layer is calculated by using the Modulus 6.0
software developed by TTI at Texas A&M University (Liu and
Scullion 2001).
To evaluate pavement structural capacity, the normalized deflec-
tions of cracking and noncracking areas were compared. As shown
in Fig. 4, most of values are between the range 10 × 10
3 to
25 × 10
3 cmand (4 × 10
3 to 10 × 10
3 in:) for both areas.
According to engineering experience, this implies that the current
structure provides adequate support for normal traffic loads. In
addition, the comparison indicates that the deflections at cracking
areas are approximately 5 × 10
3 cm to (2 × 10
3 in:) higher than
those of noncracking area, which means that the cracking is detri-
mental to the pavement load-bearing capacity. The slight deflection
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Normalized Deflection W1 (mil)
18.00
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
0 500 1000 1500
Station (ft)
On Crack
Fig. 4. Normalized deflection at crack and noncrack areas
difference between cracking and noncracking areas suggested that
the cracking was relatively narrow, and thus its impact on the
pavement structure capacity is not relevant to this study.
For the LTE calculation, the deflection readings from sensors 1
and 2 are used. Sensor 1 is installed directly at the center of the
loading plate and sensor 2 is installed 12 in. from sensor 1. The
equation for LTE calculation is as follows:
LTE ¼ d 2 =d 1 × 100%
where d 1 = deflection reading from sensor 1; and d 2 = deflection
reading from sensor 2.
The LTE obtained in this way is used to evaluate the load trans-
fer capacity between two points 12 in. apart on a given pavement.
When testing LTE across a crack, the FWD is positioned such that
the crack is halfway between sensors 1 and 2. The calculations
show that the average LTE at cracks is 74% and for intact pavement
it is 80%. This indicates that the cracked areas have slightly lower
(but similar) load-bearing capacity than the intact areas. The load-
bearing capacity was not significantly reduced at the cracking area
because a tight aggregate interlock still exists at the time of this
116 / JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011
Fig. 3. In situ pavement survey by ground-penetrating radar
investigation. In a new construction project, cracking will not result
in a structural problem if the cracks do not widen. However, if the
crack is wide enough so that the aggregate interlock is significantly
reduced, measures should be taken to prevent reflective cracking
(George 2002). Otherwise, with repeated traffic loads on the pave-
ment, faulting of the CTB and pumping of the subgrade will occur.
The countermeasures for dealing with this issue are addressed later
in this paper.
The structural layers’ moduli may also contribute to cracking
2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 distress. The effective modulus for a layer at a cracked area is lower
than one at an intact area, as the higher deflection demonstrates.
Between Crack The moduli for the four structural layers (AC, CTB, LTS, and natu-
ral subgrade) along the test section are shown in Fig. 5. The
observations are discussed as follows. Comparison of moduli at
cracking and intact areas for each layer shows that the moduli
are consistently higher at the intact areas than at cracked areas
for both AC and CTB layers, while there is no significant difference
between moduli at the cracked and intact areas for both LTS and
natural subgrade. This indicates that the cracking of the AC and
CTB layer is significant, while the cracking of the lower layers
is relatively minor. This is consistent with the crack pattern
observed during field trenching [Fig. 1(b)].
Recall the prior statement that the possibility of cracks initiating
from the AC layer is very low because the section has not yet
ð1Þ been exposed to traffic load. This is also an indication that the
cracking initiated in the CTB layer. Furthermore, the average back-
calculated CTB modulus from the intact areas is approximately
13,780 MPa (2,000 ksi). The high CTB moduli are exhibited by
the very low deflections [the normalized deflection under 40 kN
(9,000 lb) load is approximately 13 × 10
3 cm (5 × 10
3 in:)]. The
average back-calculated CTB modulus in the cracked area is
approximately 5,512 MPa (800 ksi).
A typical CTB modulus in Texas is in the range of 2,756–
3,445 MPa (400–500 ksi). The CTB moduli on SH 24 are much
higher than the typical value, which makes the CTB prone to crack-
ing because of shrinkage (George 2002).
J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.
 (a) AC Modulus (b) CTB Modulus
600 5000

Modulus (ksi) 500 4000

Modulus (ksi)
400
3000
300
2000
200
100 1000

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Distance (ft) Distance (ft)

On Crack Between Crack On Crack Between Crack

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(c) Lime Treated Subgrade Modulus (d) Natural Subgrade Modulus

100 40
35
80

Modulus (ksi)
Modulus (ksi)

30
60 25
20
40 15
10
20
5
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Distance (ft) Distance (ft)

On Crack Between Crack On Crack Between Crack

Fig. 5. Back-calculated moduli for different pavement layers: (a) asphalt concrete; (b) cement-treated base; (c) lime-treated subgrade; and (d) natural
subgrade

Laboratory CTB Test Results 12

Moisture Content (%)

10
Since the in situ tests and excavation indicate that the CTB layer is
8
contributing to the cracking distress, further testing and analysis on
6
the CTB material is warranted. Moisture content at the time of com-
paction and the cement content are two key factors associated with 4

a CTB’s engineering properties, such as strength, thus these two 2

parameters were highlighted in the investigation. 0
For moisture content, it is the district’s custom to prepare and
0

0
+8

+0

+4

+0

+0

+0

+0

+0

+5

+0
compact flexible base (aggregate base without any stabilizer) at 2%
01

72

96

03

17

23

33

42

77

03
12

12

12

13

13

13

13

13

13

15
above optimum moisture content. Even though this base is cement-
Station
treated, the district personnel thought that it should be constructed
Moisture Content (%) Optimum Moisture Content
at the same moisture content, which was done. However, a recent
study by the Portland Cement Association suggests that it is better
Fig. 6. Field-measured moisture content and optimum moisture
to compact a CTB at slightly lower than optimum moisture content
content in the CTB layer
(Adaska and Luhr 2009). The researchers also documented that
moisture in excess of that needed for maximum density may
provide higher potential for shrinkage because the CTB can 1000
undergo more drying. In this regard, efforts were made to review 900
the moisture measurements from the top of the CTB layer by
800
nuclear density gauge. This review confirmed that almost all tested
locations exceeded the target optimum moisture content of 6.9%. 700
7 day UCS (psi)

In particular, more than 30% of the locations showed moisture 600

content exceeding 8% (Fig. 6). 500
Regarding cement content, lab tests were conducted at different 400 PCA
cement contents to investigate the cement/strength relationship. Recommendation
300
The specimens with different cement content were cured for seven
days, then unconfined compressive tests were performed. Fig. 7 200
shows the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) results versus 100
different cement contents. Even at a low level of 2% cement, 0
the UCS reaches 3.7 MPa (544 psi). A recent study based on a large 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
amount of field projects and laboratory tests by the PCA suggests % Cement
that to stay below the maximum crack-width limit in CTB, the
Fig. 7. Laboratory test results on the relationship between 7-day UCS
maximum 7-day UCS is 2.1 MPa (300 psi) for fine-grained soils
and percent of cement for the CTB material
and 3.1 MPa (450 psi) for course-grained soils, respectively

JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011 / 117

J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.

 (George 2002). A content of 1.5% cement would have been suffi-
cient to reach 300 psi for the aggregate used on SH 24. However,
the design indicated that 3% cement was used in the project, which
apparently resulted in a much higher 7-day UCS of 4.2 MPa
(600 psi). Although excess cement contributed to the cracking,
an insufficient amount of cement could also lead to problems attrib-
utable to insufficient material strength. In summary, the lesson
learned from this project is that lab tests should be conducted to
determine the optimum cement content for each aggregate source
before construction.
Laboratory AC Core Testing
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A series of tests were carried out at a TxDOT asphalt laboratory
on the cores taken from the field. The test results indicated that
all properties (AC content, density, gradation, etc.) met the require-
ments for Type B HMA according to TxDOT specifications.
In recent TxDOT asphalt material research, the overlay tester
has been used to evaluate the asphalt mix’s ability to resist cracking
(Zhou and Scullion 2005). In the overlay test, a sample is subjected
to repeated direct tension load until failure. The higher the number
of repetitions the sample can endure, the better its capacity to resist
cracking. The details of the overlay tester are referenced in Zhou
and Scullion (2005). Although the overlay test requirement is not in
the specification, overlay tests were performed. The Type B cores
from the SH 24 have a life of only 20 cycles, which indicate that it
is stiff and prone to cracking.
Pavement Life
To evaluate the existing pavement’s structural capacity to support
future traffic loads, pavement-life analysis was conducted using the
FPS19 program developed by TTI at Texas A&M University.
A conservative approach was adopted, by using only the back-
calculated moduli at the cracked areas. The program estimates that
the existing structure will be able to sustain the predicted 3.6 mil-
lion ESALs in the coming 20 years. This implies that the existing
pavement is structurally adequate even without an added wearing
course. However, this statement is only valid under the condition
that the existing cracks are well controlled. Otherwise, as was dis-
cussed earlier, water ingress and expansion of existing cracks will
lead to a significant reduction of the pavement’s structural capacity.
Recommendations for Mitigating Effects of Existing
Cracking
Based on the investigation results of the existing problem on SH 24,
two recommendations are provided herein to mitigate the effect of
the cracks: (1) to address the concern of extra moisture in the CTB
Fig. 8. Example of reflective cracking that deteriorated into alligator cracking on an in-service highway (U.S. Route 69)
118 / JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011
J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.
layer, and (2) to design an engineering-satisfactory wearing course
HMA mix on top of the existing cracked pavement. The details are
discussed in the following.
Countermeasure to Remove Moisture from CTB Layer
Excessive moisture is detrimental to a pavement structure. To
address this concern with the CTB layer, an “edge drain” is pro-
posed to facilitate the removal of extra moisture. If properly
installed, the edge drain has been proved effective in pavement life
extension (Fleckenstein and Allen 2007). There are different edge
drain designs, depending on drainage rate requirement and cost
consideration. For SH 24, the severe accumulation of water in
the existing pavement warrants an efficient edge drain. One is pro-
posed as described by the following procedure [Fig. 2(c)]:
1. A trench is dug along the pavement edge;
2. Geotextile wrap is laid in the trench;
3. The trench is backfilled with a selected free-draining
aggregate;
4. Perforated pipes are installed in the trench and buried with
more backfill; and
5. Drain outlets are installed at a given interval along the trench.
At the time of writing this paper, the proposed edge drain has
been implemented and installed by the district over this 6–mi
section.
Proposed Design of Wearing Course HMA
To prevent possible rainfall ingress into the existing pavement
structure through the AC cracks, a seal coat was added to the
existing Type B AC. Unfortunately, pop-up cracks were observed
on the seal coat. There are now concerns about the pending HMA
wearing course, which may be subject to reflective cracking. As an
example, Fig. 8 (from U.S. Route 69) shows an in-service pave-
ment suffering from reflective cracking that deteriorated to alligator
cracking. U.S. Route 69 was built approximately 6 years ago and
had pavement similar to SH 24. To prevent this project from suffer-
ing similar severe distress after it is opened to traffic, sufficient care
should be taken in the HMA mix design. Namely, a satisfactory mix
design with a focus on high crack-resistance is warranted.
To design the wearing course HMA for SH 24, sampled materi-
als from the district were tested and evaluated in the asphalt lab at
TxDOT. For comparison, five mix designs were involved. Among
them, three designs used bottom ash at 5, 10, and 20%, one design
included Drake river sand, and the remaining one used screenings.
The design with 20% bottom ash was chosen for comparison
because it is expected to produce a high optimum asphalt content,
which should make the mixture less prone to cracking. The flip side
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Fig. 9. Overlay test employed to predict pavement reflective cracking: (left) test system; (right) failed sample after 20 cycles

of using 20% bottom ash is that it is probably difficult to feed have been developed for K bending, K shearing , and K thermal , depending
that much bottom ash into a drum plant because it will slow down on the geometry of the pavement structure, load transfer at cracks,
production. But having more fines will result in a higher asphalt and crack length, and detailed equations can be found in Zhou
content, which could create a satisfactory candidate for this project. et al. (2009).
It is recommended that the Type D mix with Drake river sand be
used in the project, based on all considerations, including local Reflective Cracking Damage Model
material availability, economic feasibility, and material properties.
It is recommended that an optimum asphalt content of 5.4% with a P
D¼ ΔC=h ð3Þ
target density of 96.5% be adopted in the design.
Furthermore, material performance in terms of its ability to where D = damage ratio; h = overlay thickness; and ΣΔC = total
resist reflective cracking is paramount. The overlay test, as shown crack length.
in Fig. 9, was performed at several asphalt contents including the
optimum. All of the results were satisfactory compared with what is Reflective Cracking Amount Model
normally seen when testing dense-graded mixtures. The Drake A sigmoidal model as presented in Eq. (4) describes the develop-
river sand design performed very well. In addition, the Hamburg ment of the reflective cracking amount
wheel track test was conducted to evaluate the mix’s rutting and
stripping resistance. The results at the optimum asphalt content RCR ¼ 100=1 þ eC1 log D ð4Þ
for this proposed design are 625 cycles from the overlay tester
where RCR = reflective-cracking rate (%); C1 ¼
7:0 is used
and 7.67 mm (0.30 in.) rut after 20,000 passes from the Hamburg
based on past experience on fatigue distress analysis, and D = dam-
test. The mixture tested in the lab is not excessively stiff, as the
age ratio from Eq. (3).
rut depth was almost 8 mm (0.31 in.). TxDOT currently requires
The required input parameters to the TxACOL are dynamic
a minimum of 750 cycles for cracking attenuation mixture (CAM)
modulus and fracture properties (A and n) of the asphalt overlay
and some districts were requiring a minimum of 300 cycles for
material, modulus and layer thickness of existing pavement struc-
stone matrix asphalt (SMA). Both of these mixtures are known
ture, modulus of subgrade, and load transfer at cracks/joints. For
to perform well and have shown to be crack resistant. Because
this special case, moduli of existing pavement structure and load
of this experience, it is expected that the proposed mix design will
transfer at cracks were back-calcualted from field FWD measure-
demonstrate good crack resistance.
ments. The dynamic modulus of the proposed overlay mix with a
In addition, AC overlay performance in terms of reflective crack
PG64-22 binder and 5.4% asphalt binder content was estimated
development was predicted using the Texas Asphalt Concrete
based on a pooled dynamic modulus database for Texas mixes.
Overlay Thickness Design and Analysis Program (TxACOL)
The fracture properties A and n of the proposed overlay were
recently developed by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at
determined based on the overlay tests, and the A and n values
Texas A&M (Zhou et al. 2009). The reflective cracking model used
are A ¼ 3:2656E-9; n ¼ 4:1670.
in the TxACOL program includes three components: reflective
On the basis of these inputs, the TxACOL program predicts that
crack propagation model, reflective- crack damage model, and
all of these designs stand a good chance of providing 10 years of
reflective cracking amount model. The format of each of these
service with less than 1% reflective cracking. The TxACOL was
models is presented in the following.
calibrated mainly based on AC over PCC pavements. The predicted
results for AC over existing pavement with CTB may not be ac-
Reflective Crack Propagation Model
curate. However, it provides an indication that the proposed wear-
The general reflective crack propagation model [Eq. (2)] is based
ing course HMA is on the safe side in terms of its crack resistance.
on Paris’s law with the combination of bending, shearing, and
More work is under way to further verify and refine the TxACOL
thermal loading
program for AC overlay designs. For example, field monitoring on
ΔC ¼ 20AðK bending Þn ΔN i þ 40AðK shearing Þn ΔN i SH 24 is being conducted to further calibrate the TxACOL analysis.

þ 1200AðK thermal Þn ð2Þ

where ΔC = daily crack length increment; ΔN = daily load
repetitions [80 kN (18 kip) ESALs]; A and n = HMA fracture prop-
erties mixture often determined from the overlay test; K bending ,
K shearing , and K thermal = stress intensity factors caused by bending,
shearing, and thermal loading, respectively. Regression equations
Discussion
Extreme low deflections and extreme high back-calculated CTB
moduli indicate that CTB is the cause of the cracking on SH
24. Extensive field and lab tests were conducted and confirmed
the result. A previous study indicated that extremely high

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J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.

 back-calculated base moduli often lead to reflective cracking
(Chen 2007). Lab test results indicated that 1.5% cement is suffi-
cient to reach 300 psi. However, 3% cement was used because it
was a common practice. With 3% cement, the strength has been
doubled, which makes the CTB very stiff. The moisture content
of 2% above the optimum value magnified the shrinkage and crack-
ing problem. In contrast, premature failure attributable to disinte-
gration of the CTB layer has been reported (Chen et al. 2008). It
suggests that the optimum stabilizer content (cement in this case)
and moisture content are critical to minimize the reflective cracks
for base and subgrade stabilization projects. The authors believe
that the possibility of premature failure can be reduced significantly
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if the lab verification tests are conducted before the construction.
Although the 8 cm (3 in.) Ty B mix met the specification
requirements, it has been found to be very stiff because it only
has 20 cycles of the overlay tester life. Thus, even without any
traffic, the reflective cracks from CTB cracked through the Ty B
mix during construction. GPR and field trenching results confirmed
that the CTB is very wet. An edge drain has been recommended and
has been implemented to dewater the free moisture in CTB layer.
Pavement structure analyses have been performed and the results
indicate that the existing structure is structurally adequate. The
primary remaining challenge is to design a wearing surface that
is able to mitigate and minimize the reflective cracks. Through prior
experiences on designing the crack attenuating mix, the materials
designated for the SH 24 projects were obtained to derive the
optimum mix to combat the reflective cracks. The engineering
designed mix has been placed with an expectation of lasting for
10 years. The mix has been in place for more than six months with-
out any visible distress. Field performance monitoring is being
conducted for further calibration.
Conclusions
Extensive field and lab testing was carried out to investigate the
premature distress of cracking on the SH 24 project in Texas.
The main causes of the premature cracking are as follows:
• An excessive amount of cement was used in the cement-treated
base, making it too stiff. This was indicated by (1) the condition
of the cores removed from the cracked areas; (2) the measured
FWD deflections, which are very low (approximately 5 mils at a
9,000 lb load); and (3) the back-calculated modulus, which is
extremely high, exceeding 2,000 ksi. The laboratory 7-day
unconfined compression strength showed that the aggregates
used in this project are very reactive to the cement. For this rea-
son, 1.5% cement is recommended for the underlying material.
A concentration of 3% cement was used in the construction,
which led to excessive shrinkage of the base material.
• The cement-treated base was compacted at high moisture levels
during the cement treatment. A field inspection revealed that
the moisture content was almost 2% above optimum. This
contradicts the successful practice of using slightly lower than
120 / JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MARCH/APRIL 2011
J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 2011.25:113-120.
optimum moisture content during the compaction of the cement-
treated material.
• Although the Ty B mix met the specification requirements, it is
very stiff and prone to cracking because it has an overlay life of
only 20 cycles.
• To mitigate the existing cracking problem and address the
concerns about possible reflective cracking of the to-be-built
wearing course, an edge drain has been suggested and imple-
mented to remove the extra moisture in the pavement structure.
A reflective-cracking resistant top layer HMA is also recom-
mended and implemented. The mix has been in place for more
than 6 months without any visible distress. It is expected that
these two aspects of engineering work will be instrumental
in mitigating the reflective cracks. Further performance moni-
toring is being conducted to calibrate the design/analysis.
This forensic study not only identifies the problem but also will
serve to prevent similar problems in the future.
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