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Paper 2 - Flexible Pavement Design 2013
Paper 2 - Flexible Pavement Design 2013
AT THE
NIGERIAN INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
3-DAY WORKSHOP ON DESIGN AND
CONSTRUCTIONOF ROADS IN PRACTICE
Aug 27 – 29, 2013 @ Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja
The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Method
The CBR method of pavement design was first used by the
California Division of Highways as a result of extensive
investigations made on pavement failures during the years 1928
and 1929.1 To predict the behaviour of pavement materials, the
CBR test was developed in 1929. Tests were performed on typical
crushed stones representative of base course materials and the
average of these tests designated as a CBR of 100 percent.
Samples of soil from different road conditions were tested and
two design curves were produced corresponding to average and
light traffic conditions. From these curves, the required thickness
of subbase, base and surfacing were determined. The
investigations showed that soils or pavement materials having
the same CBR required the same thickness of overlying
materials in order to prevent
1Development of CBR Flexible Pavement Design Methods for Airfields" Symposium
Transactions, Vol. 115, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1950.
plastic deformation. So, once the CBR for the
subgrade and those of other layers are known, the
thickness of overlying materials to provide a
satisfactory pavement can be determined.
At the beginning of the second World War, the US
Corps of Engineers adopted the CBR method of design
for airfield pavements. Since then, several
modifications of the original design curves have been
made. Studies in 1956 also produced a relationship
between pavement thickness t, wheel load W, tyre
pressure p and CBR as follows:2
1 1
t W (1)
8.1CBR p
2Yoder E.J., and Witczak, M.W., Principles of Pavement Design. 2nd ed. John Wiley and
Sons, 1975
This and other relationships have been used to derive
design charts for flexible pavements.
Although the California Division of Highways no
longer use the CBR, many highway agencies use the CBR
and have well developed pavement design charts based
on their experience and research.
1. Nigerian (CBR) Design Method
In Nigeria, as in most developing countries, the California
Bearing Ratio (CBR) method is almost the only method
used for the design of flexible pavements. Nigeria uses a
set of design curves to determine thickness
requirements. The curves, which were originally
developed by the US Corps of Engineers and modified by
the British Transportation and Road Research Laboratory
(TRRL),4 are adopted by Nigeria and are contained in the
Federal Highway Manual.5
3 Corps of Engineers, "Engineering and Design-Flexible Pavements". EM-1110-45-302, 1958.
4 Transport and Road Research Laboratory, " A Guide to the Structural Design of Pavements for New Roads".
Road Note 29, 3rd ed. Department of Environment, HMSO, London, 1970.
5. Highway Manual-Part 1, Design. Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Lagos, 1973.
The thickness of the pavement structure depends on
the anticipated traffic, the strength value of the
supporting or foundation material, the quality of
pavement materials used and the construction
procedure.
Traffic Analysis
The anticipated traffic for the design life of the
pavement is estimated in terms of the number of
commercial vehicles per day heavier than 3tonnes
loaded weight. Lane distribution of these vehicles is
taken into consideration for multi-lane roadways,
and reduction values applied as in Table 1.
Table 1: Lane Distribution factors on multi-lane roads
Number of Lanes Factors to Be Applied to Traffic (%)
Both Directions
Lane No. 1* Lane No. 2 Lane No. 3 Lane No. 4
2 100 - - -
4 100 100 - -
6 20 80 80 -
8 20 20 80 80
*Lane No. 1 is next to the centreline or median on the driver’s left.
Evaluation of Materials
The materials selected for use in the construction of the
pavement must be evaluated to provide information for an
adequate and economical design. The materials must also
be checked to determine quality and to establish
compaction requirements.
The mechanical strength test used for the subgrade,
subbase and base materials is the California Bearing
Ratio (CBR). It is recommended that for subgrade, the
90th percentile value of CBR be used from the results of
several CBR tests on a given project. The design
strength value is equal to or less than 90% of all test
values in the section as illustrated in Figure 1. For CBR
test values from soil tests of a road section. Values in
the third column of Figure 1 indicate that the test value
is equal to or less than the number of other tests. For
instance, CBR of 9% is equal to or less than 13 of the
tests in the series. therefore the percentage is
13/ x 100 = 65%. The values in the 4th column are
20
plotted, Figure (1b), to determine the 90% value, which
is 7.4%.
Design Procedure
After the CBR value for the subgrade and the estimate of
traffic have been determined, the thickness of the
pavement structure is determined from the design curves
in Figure 2. The recommended minimum asphalt
pavement thickness is as follows:
Light Traffic 50mm
Medium Traffic 75mm
Heavy Traffic 100mm.
For this method, it is necessary that the paving mixture
design be based on either the Marshall or Hveem
Stability Method. The CBR values of the subgrade and
other materials depend on the density of compaction
and the moisture content. The density of compaction in the
laboratory must therefore simulate fairly closely to the
density achievable with the road rollers commonly in use.
A minimum of 10 years service life is generally aimed at
for bituminous surface pavements. For bituminous concrete
pavements, it is desirable to achieve a service life of 20years.
This assumes periodic maintenance of the surface.
Solution
From Table 1, for a 6-lane road way, use 80% of 3 tonne
weight vehicles for the design lane. i.e 3,500 * .80 =2800
On Figure 2, Use Curve F.
TABLE 1: Design Data Summary
Material Design Thickness Thickness Adjusted thickness
CBR% above layer of layer of layer (cm)
(cm) (cm)
Subgrade 7 39 -
Subbase 25 18.5 20.5 17.0
Base 80 8.5 10.0 12.0
Surface - - 8.5 10.0
Another formula for computing the W80 in the design lane is:
W 80 .1 0.01r 1
n
W80 = DD x dL x (3)
0.01r
where r = annual growth rate of ESAL in percent
Figure 5: Design chart for flexible pavements based on using mean
values for each input
Although the DD factor is generally 0.5 for most
roadways, it may vary from 0.3 to 0.7, depending on
which direction is “loaded” and which is “unloaded”.
For the DL factor, Table 2 may be used as a guide.
Table 2: Lane Distribution Factors
7. Van Till, C.J., et al., “Evaluation of AASHTO Interim Guides for Design of Pavement
Structures" National Cooperative Highway Research Program 128, Washington, D.C. 1972.
8. Oguara, T.M. Highway Engineering: Pavement design, construction and maintenance
Malthouse Engineering Series, 2006
where m2, m3 = drainage coefficients for untreated base
and subbase
Table 5 presents recommended mi values as a function of the
quality of drainage and the percent of time during the year
the pavement structure would normally be exposed to
moisture levels approaching saturation.
The SN equation does not have a single unique solution. It
should be realized that many combinations of layer thicknesses
and material types satisfy the SN equation. When selecting
appropriate values for layer thicknesses, it is necessary to
consider their cost effectiveness along with construction and
maintenance constraints in order to avoid the possibility of
producing an impractical design. Table 6 presents minimum
thicknesses provided as a guide by AASHTO. A layered design
analysis procedure for computing maximum allowable
thicknesses is also included in the AASHTO Guide.
Table 4: Estimates for Structural layer coefficientsa
Asphalt Concrete surface course
Modulus @ 20oC, MPa, (Psi) a1 Modulus @ 20oC, MPa, (Psi) a1
1030 (150,000) 0.25 2070 (300,000) 0.36
1375 (200,000) 0.30 2750 (400,000) 0.42
1720 (250,000) 0.33 3100 (450,000) 0.45
Base course
Granular Base Cement-Treated Base Bituminous-Treated
Base
CBR% Modulus, Mpa a2 Comp. Modulus a2 Marshall Stability a2
(Psi) Strength Mpa N (lb)
Mpa (Psi) (Psi x 105)
100 205 (30,000) 0.14 6.9 (1000) 6550 (9.5) 0.25 #7160 (16,000) 0.30
55 175 25,000) 0.12 5.5 (800) 5650 (8.2) 0.22 3580 (800) 0.20
35 145 21,000) 0.10 4.8 (700) 5170 (7.5) 0.20 490 (110) 0.10
25 120 17,000) 0.08 2.9 (420) 4275 (6.2) 0.16
1.4 (200) 3585 (5.2) 0.12
Subbase Course
CBR% Modulus, Mpa (Psi) a3
100 145 (21,000) 0.14
40 120 (17,000) 0.12
30 100 (15,000) 0.11
25 90 (13,500) 0.10
10 70 (10,000) 0.08
* Values derived from NCHRP Report 128 and presented in AASHTO Guide
Table 5: Recommended mi Values for Modifying Structural Layer coefficients
of Untreated Base and sub-base materials in Flexible Pavements
Percent of time pavement structure is exposed to moisture levels
25%
Example Problem
A low volume road with an initial serviceability of 4.0 is to be
designed by the AASHTO Guide method. The expected service
period for the road will be 20 years and traffic
counts indicate an average of 350 daily 80kN single axle
load repetitions with a reliability of 75% and overall
standard deviation of 0.40. The materials to be used consist
of sand asphalt surface course with coefficient a=0.40,
cement treated laterite base with a = 0.20 and a sandy clay
subbase with a=0.11. The subgrade is a plastic clay with a
CBR of 5%. Design the pavement, if the drainage
coefficients for the base and subbase are 1.15 and 0.80
respectively.
Solution
W80 = 350 x 365 x 20 = 2.56 x 106
R = 75%
S0 = 0.40
Mr = 10.3 x CBR = 10.3 x 5 = 51.5Mpa
PSI = 4.0 – 2.0 = 2.0
From figure 2, the solution SN = 3.60.
SN = a1D1 + a2D2m2 + a3D3m3
where D1, D2 and D3 are in inches.
To use SI units, multiply SN by 25.4 so as to produce
thicknesses in millimetres.
3.60 (25.4) = 0.40D1 + 0.20D2 x 1.15 + 0.11D3 x 0.80
For W80 of 2.56 x 106, minimum asphalt concrete surface
thickness from Table 5 is 88mm. So if D1=88mm, then 3.60
25.4)=91.44 =0.40x88+0.23D2 + 0.088D3.
Try D2 = 150mm, then
91.44 = 35.2 + 34.5 + 0.088D3
21.74 = 0.88D3
D3 = 21.74/0.088 = 247mm
So use:
88mm of asphalt concrete surfacing
150mm of cement treated base course, and
247mm of subbase course
Alternatively:
If D1 = 88mm and D2 = 200mm, then D3 = 116mm
D1 = 100mm and D2 = 150mm, then D3 = 193mm
D1 = 100mm and D2 = 200mm, then D3 = 62mm