UNPAVED ROAD DESIGN

REPUBLIC OF ANGOLA
Standard :
ROAD DESIGN MANUAL PART III, MATERIALS AND PAVEMENT DESIGN FOR NEW
ROADS, REPUBLIC OF KENYA

Gravel Wearing Course:

• It consists of the minimum thickness necessary to avoid excessive
compressive strain in the subgrade and the extra thickness needed to
compensate for the gravel loss under traffic during the period between
regravelling operations.

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SUBGRADE CLASS BASED ON SOIL TYPE
Minimum 4-day
Common soaked CBR (%)
• The subgrade class can Subgrade range of 4- value to be
Common corresponding
Class day soaked confirmed by
material
be defined based on CBR (%) testing on
value representative
sample from site
identification of type of in-
Black cotton soil,
S1 Micaceous silts 2–5 2
situ subgrade soil, which (decomp. rock)
Other alluvial silts
needs to be confirmed by S2
(decomp.rock)
5 – 10 5

Red friable clays, Sandy

conducting the 4-day
soaked CBR test.
• Table shown, provides the
correlation between type
of subgrade soil and its
class in terms of 4-day
soaked C.B.R. values.
S3 clays on volcinics, Ash 7 – 13 7
and pumice soils*
Silty loams on gneiss and
granite, Calcareous sandy
soils, Sandy clays on
basement, Clayey sands
S4 on basement, Dune 10 – 18 10
sands, Coastal sands,
Weathered lava, Quartzitic
gravels, Soft (weathered)
tuffs, Calcareous gravels
Lateritic gravels, Coral
S5 15 – 30 15
gravels
*Such soils (Standard Compaction MDD less than 1.4 Mg/m3) cannot be
classified for pavement design purposes on the basis of CBR only.

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SUBGRADE CLASS BASED ON SOIL TYPE

Treatment of subgrade soil:

• The subgrade soil identified as Class S1, S2, S3 and having 4-day soaked
C.B.R. value less than 8% are not recommended to be used as direct support
for the pavement. These subgrade class soils need to be excavated for the
design thickness and shall be replaced with improved subgrade material of
Class-2.

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Unpaved Road, Material Requirements:

• Crushed Gravel: Shall consist of hard REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADATION OF

Class-2 GRAVEL MATERIAL
durable stones, rocks, and boulders
(For Daily Commercial Traffic < 150)
crushed to specified sizes and shall be free
Sieve Designation Percent by weight
from excess flat, elongated, soft or (Square openings) passing
disintegrated pieces, dirt, or other 37 mm 100
objectionable matter. 28 mm 95 – 100
• The plasticity Index of the gravel material 20 mm 85 – 100
should not be less than 5 and should not 14 mm 65 – 100
exceed 20. 10 mm 55 – 100
• The gravel wearing course material shall 5 mm 35 – 92
have a 4-day soaked CBR of not less than 2 mm 23 – 77
20 when compacted at 95% of modified 1 mm 18 – 62
proctor AASHTO T 180 (Method D) and 0.425 mm 14 – 50
tested in accordance with AASHTO T 193. 0.075 mm 10 – 40
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Unpaved Road, Drainage Requirements:
• Proper surface drainage system, like side drains, discharge channels shall be provided
in order to collect the surface water and drain away from the road to a far place
where it can soak into ground or flow into a natural drainage course without
influencing the road structure.
• The drains should be deep and wide enough to contain the expected water volumes
and avoid flooding of the carriageway. Their dimensions should be such that the
velocity of flow is not excessive (which results in scouring and erosion) and the
intended maintenance is practical. Additionally suitable erosion control measures shall
be adopted wherever necessary, in order to avoid excessive gravel loss on longitudinal
grades.
• Adequate means of cross drainage such as culverts are necessary.
• Proper subsurface drainage system needs to be implemented in areas of high water
table and in areas which are prone to capillary suction.
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Unpaved Road, Regravelling Requirements:
• The gravel loss is expected with time due to forecasted traffic volume and hence the
optimum wearing course thickness (gravel course) is effectively valid for only a short
period of time.
• Regravelling should take place before the subgrade is exposed in order to avoid:
 Deformation that will necessitate reconstruction;
 Loss of the strength that has been built up in the subgrade by traffic movement
over time;
 Contamination of residual surfacing material, preventing it from being re-used.
• Accordingly, a resurfacing shall be applied periodically to compensate for the gravel
loss under traffic during this period.
• Re-compacting of the gravel road shall be performed every year.
• It is necessary to have a maintenance of gravel roads on a more regular and systematic
basis at a higher level of service.
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Unpaved Road Design Thickness:
Case :1 For V = 0% (V = Total (rise + fall) as a percentage of the length of the road)
In-situ subgrade
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
class=>

Traffic per day=> 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160

Gravel Wearing
55 60 65 70 40 50 55 55 30 35 45 45 15 20 30 30 15 20 25 30
course (cm)
Subgrade
Treatment 32.5 20 15 - -
Thickness (cm)

Case :2 For V = 5% (V = Total (rise + fall) as a percentage of the length of the road)
In-situ subgrade
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
class=>

Traffic per day=> 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160 10 20 to 50 60 to 150 160

Gravel Wearing
55 70 75 75 40 55 60 65 35 40 50 55 20 25 35 40 15 25 30 35
course (cm)
Subgrade
Treatment 32.5 20 15 - -
Thickness (cm)

Note:
• The above results are based on below assumed parameters:
• Average annual rainfall = 0.5m
• Period between regravelling operations = 5 years
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Pavement section for Subgrade Type S1, S2 and S3:

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Pavement section for Subgrade Type S4 and S5:

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