Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088

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Construction and Building Materials

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Technical note

The feasibility of continuous construction of the base and asphalt layers

of asphalt pavement to solve the problem of reflective cracks
Huiming Fang, Hui Luo , Hongping Zhu
School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

A new construction method called CCBA is proposed.

An anti-cracking agent is developed for CCBA.

Field test showed that CCBA can lead to fewer reflective cracks in asphalt pavement.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The problem of reflective cracks in asphalt pavements with semi-rigid bases has not yet been effectively
Received 4 September 2015 solved. This paper proposes a new construction method called continuous construction of the base and
Received in revised form 31 March 2016 asphalt layers (CCBA). In this method, an anti-cracking agent is added to the cement-stabilized base
Accepted 2 April 2016
material, and the asphalt pavement is applied when the base has been compacted but not initially set.
Laboratory tests of the anti-cracking agent were performed, and test roads in the field were evaluated.
The test roads showed that compared with the conventional construction technique (CCT), CCBA results
Keywords:
in fewer cracks, can protect the base from cracking, and strengthens the bond between the base and the
Continuous construction of the base and
asphalt layers (CCBA)
asphalt pavement.
Test road 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Reflective crack
Asphalt pavement
Anti-cracking agent

1. Introduction
Asphalt pavements with semi-rigid bases have the advantages
of high strength, good flatness and sound anti-fatigue performance
and have become the major type of pavement used for high-grade
highways in China. However, they are prone to reflective cracking
under traffic loads and the influence of the external environment
[1]. It is widely recognized that the tensile and shearing stresses
at the bottom of the asphalt layer that form under vehicle wheel
loads or environmental loads increases greatly when there are
cracks in the base because of the stress concentration at the crack
tips. Thus, if there are cracks in the semi-rigid base and the asphalt
pavement is not sufficiently thick, further cracks will soon form.
These cracks, which propagate in a flexible overlay over the exist-
ing cracks, are called reflective cracks because they essentially
reflect what is happening beneath them. Reflective cracks can
occur in both Portland cement and asphalt pavements as well as
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: autumn_luoh@163.com (H. Luo).
over other base materials, such as stabilized bases. These cracks
roughen the pavement and allow moisture to penetrate, causing
the pavement to deteriorate over the long term. A number of dif-
ferent design strategies have been employed in an effort to slow
the development of reflective cracking, including increased overlay
thickness [2], joint sawing and sealing [3], pavement fracturing (for
Portland cement concrete pavements) [4], stress relief layers [5],
reinforcement layers [6,7], and composite geotextile interlayers
[813]. The University of Illinois investigated the performance of
pavements constructed using interlayer stress-absorbing compos-
ite (ISAC)-based Portland cement concrete; these investigations
revealed that ISAC-based pavements demonstrate unparalleled
superiority over single-interlayer pavements, even in the worst
environments [14]. Microcracking is also a promising approach.
The microcracking concept can be defined as the application of
several passes with vibratory rollers over a cement-treated base
following a short curing stage, typically of 13 days, to create a fine
network of cracks. Microcracking has proven quite effective at
reducing shrinkage cracking problems in pavement bases; a proce-
dure consisting of three roller passes after 23 days of curing

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.04.012
0950-0618/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088
resulted in the best performance [15]. However, the effectiveness
of these approaches in overcoming reflective cracking is highly
project dependent. For example, increasing the overlay thickness
is applicable only for overlays thinner than 9 in [16] and may not
significantly decrease thermal stresses, although it may decrease
traffic-induced stresses [17]. Furthermore, some applications have
shown little or even no success in retarding reflective cracking by
interlayer systems. This may be attributable to a lack of under-
standing of the mechanism through which an interlayer system
reduces reflective cracking and/or inappropriate interlayer system
installation [18,19].
Obviously, the origin of a reflective crack is a base crack, and the
most effective measure to avoid reflective cracking should be to
eliminate base cracks. However, preventing the base from cracking
is difficult, especially for cement-stabilized bases due to their
inherent characteristics of dry shrinkage and temperature shrink-
age, accompanied by the negative effects of the conventional con-
struction technique (CCT) for asphalt pavement. CCT has some
disadvantages. First, the water spray maintenance procedure may
induce base cracks as a result of changes in the base volume caused
by constant variation in water content. At this early stage, the
strength of the cement-stabilized base is too low to resist the
resulting cycles of expansion and shrinkage. Second, during the
curing period, the base is exposed to the external environment
and is easily influenced by environmental factors such as air tem-
perature, solar radiation, and wind, which can cause thermal
expansion and shrinkage and cause base cracks, especially with
large temperature differences between day and night. Third, the
base is highly likely to become contaminated during the long cur-
ing period, which may impair the bond between the base and the
asphalt layer. Finally, the long-term hindrance to transportation
during the lengthy construction period that is required is some-
times intolerable, especially for emergency urban road repairs. To
overcome these construction disadvantages, a creative construc-
tion technique called continuous construction of the base and
asphalt layers (CCBA) is proposed in this paper. Furthermore, its
feasibility for solving the reflective cracking problem in asphalt
pavement is investigated.
In this paper, Section 1 reviews the topic of reflective cracking.
In Section 2, a creative construction technique called continuous
construction of the base and asphalt layers is proposed. The addi-
tive required for CCBA, namely, the anti-cracking agent, is then
briefly introduced in Section 3. In Section 4, the test roads con-
structed in the field using this proposed technique are presented
and discussed. Finally, the conclusions are presented.
2. The presentation of CCBA
To avoid the disadvantages of the CCT, an innovative construc-
tion method called continuous construction of the base and asphalt
layers is proposed.
The CCBA process is graphically presented in Fig. 1. The con-
struction process before base construction is the same as that for
the CCT. The difference arises after the sub-base is completed. In
CCBA, the subsequent step is to pave the base material, which
has been mixed with a special additive, and to then continuously
pave the asphalt layer immediately after the base is compacted.
Both sprinkler-based maintenance for curing the cement-
stabilized base and the application of priming oil before paving
the asphalt layer are eliminated. In contrast, the CCT procedure
includes the following steps: paving and compacting the base; cur-
ing the base (usually for several days); applying priming oil, and
paving and compacting the asphalt layer; and opening the road
to traffic.
81
Subgrade Construction
Subbase Construction
Mixing base material
(with anti-cracking agent)
Base
Transporting base mixture
Construction
8 hours limit
Paving and compacting
base
Paving and compacting
asphalt pavement
(finished before base
material initial setting)
About 3 days
Open to traffic
Fig. 1. CCBA procedure.
Compared with the CCT, the most important changes in CCBA
lie in the steps in which the asphalt layer is paved and the road
is opened to traffic. The construction of both the base and the
asphalt layer (at least the sub-asphalt layer) must be completed
before the initial setting of the base material, as shown in Fig. 1.
Because compacting the cement-stabilized base after its initial set-
ting may destroy the integrity of the base and cause irreversible
damage, construction must be completed before this initial setting.
Another change in CCBA is when the road can be opened to traffic.
An asphalt pavement constructed using the CCT is typically opened
to traffic immediately after the asphalt layer is compacted and
cooled. However, this is not suitable for CCBA. A road constructed
using the CCBA technique cannot be opened to traffic before the
cement-stabilized base has gained sufficient strength to endure
traffic loads, which usually requires several days. In the field road
test presented in Section 4, the base strength was greater than
2.5 MPa three days after paving, indicating that the test road could
be opened to traffic after three days.
CCBA is recommended to be conducted using at least one base
paver, one base roller, one asphalt mixture paver, and one asphalt
mixture roller, as well as several vehicles for transferring materials.
The construction site arrangement is depicted in Fig. 2. The con-
struction equipment is arranged in the following sequence: base
pavers, base rollers, asphalt mixture pavers, and asphalt mixture
rollers. During construction, the asphalt mixture paving and com-
paction equipment is followed by the base material spreading and
compaction equipment at approximately 50 m behind. The vehicle
used to transfer the asphalt mixture transfers the mixture to the
asphalt concrete (AC) paver laterally rather than driving directly
on the road being paved because the base roller and paver would
otherwise be in its way, as shown in Fig. 3. If the paver is allowed
to transfer the material laterally, then the transferring vehicle
should not drive on the newly paved base road. Otherwise, the
transferring vehicle must drive across the paths of the base paver
and roller and transfer the AC to the paver directly.
The CCBA compaction scheme is essentially consistent with that
of the CCT. Generally, the compaction scheme is determined based
on the compaction results from field test roads. The ideal objective
82 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088

Fig. 2. The construction site arrangement.

Laterally transferring asphalt Or transferring asphalt mixture through

mixture this routine

Asphalt mixture transferring vehicle

Base mixture transferring vehicle

Asphalt mixture paver and roller Base mixture paver and roller

Fig. 3. The material transfer scheme.

of the CCBA compaction scheme is to simultaneously achieve the

target compaction degrees of the base and the asphalt layers. The
compaction scheme is described at length in Section 4.
At the construction joints, the end regions in which the thick-
ness is insufficient and the flatness does not meet the requirements
should be removed before the initial setting of the base and the
cooling of the asphalt layer to guarantee vertical joints for subse-
quent construction.

3. Characteristics of the anti-cracking agent

The initial setting of ordinary Portland cement occurs within

approximately 24 h. This time period is too short to complete
all of the construction work for the base and asphalt layers. There-
fore, an additive called an anti-cracking agent must be added to the
cement-stabilized base to retard its initial setting time and (a) SEM photo of cement-stabilized gravel with anti-cracking agent
enhance its crack resistance. This anti-cracking agent must be able
to retard the setting time of the cement-stabilized material with-
out impairing its crack resistance.
The low-cost anti-cracking agent presented in this paper is
obtained from phosphogypsum, which is a by-product of phos-
phate production. The ingredients of the anti-cracking agent are
as follows: 50% 5% (weight percentage) calcium sulfate extracted
from the chemical waste phosphogypsum, 50% 5% (weight per-
centage) pulverized lime, and 0.5% lanthanum chloride. The prepa-
ration method is presented briefly as follows: When catalyzed by
alkaline lime binder, the chemical waste phosphogypsum (calcium
sulfate dehydrate) produces calcium silicate hydrate and calcium
aluminate hydrates via the pozzolanic reaction, which then react
into the single-sulfur type of crystalline calcium aluminate
hydrate. When the anti-cracking agent is added to the road base
mixture, the shrinkage space in the road base created via cement
hydration decreases considerably due to the expansion and densi- (b) SEM photo of cement-stabilized gravel without anti-cracking agent
fication characteristics of the agent, thereby retarding or mitigating
cracking in the cement-stabilized base. Fig. 4. Influence of the anti-cracking agent on the micro-structure of cement-
stabilized gravel.

3.1. Crack resistance mechanism of the anti-cracking agent

Fig. 4. More netted textures were observed in the samples with
A JSM-5610LV scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used
the anti-cracking agent than the samples without the agent. These
for the microstructural and microanalytical characterization of
netted textures interlace with each other, tightly bind the skeletal
hydrated specimens. An acceleration voltage of 20 kV was used
materials together and make an integrated entity. The addition of
for imaging and microanalysis. The samples were tested at an
an appropriate amount of anti-cracking agent accelerates the for-
age of 7 days. The results obtained using the SEM are shown in
 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088 83

mation of the three-sulfur type of ettringite (Aft), limit the hydra-

tion of calcium silicate, and promote the hydration of calcium alu-
minates by modifying the hydration medium environment. As a
result, Aft is rapidly generated to form a gelatinous Aft protective
film, which has a retarding effect. During further hydration, this
protective film layer gradually breaks down and does not affect
the later hydration or the cement strengthening. Ettringite and
the single-sulfur type of crystalline calcium aluminate hydrate
have excellent expansion and densification characteristics and
can effectively reduce the shrinkage space produced in the
cement-stabilized base under variable temperature and humidity
conditions, thereby reducing the shrinkage cracking induced by
excessive shrinkage of the semi-rigid base.

3.2. Laboratory tests

A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the poten-

tial of the proposed material to act as an anti-cracking agent. (a) R7d

3.2.1. Optimization of the anti-cracking agent dosage

To optimize the dosage of the anti-cracking agent, the charac-
teristics of cement-stabilized bases treated with 1.59.0% anti-
cracking agent (with respect to the amount of cement in the base)
were studied. The cement type used was conventional Portland
cement 425, produced at the Dangyang cement plant. The test
was performed in accordance with the related Chinese Standard
[20]. For each volume of anti-cracking agent, six samples were pre-
pared and tested. The results were statistically analyzed, and data
exhibiting large deviations were removed. The results were found
to be statistically average values. As shown in Fig. 5, the anti-
cracking agent exerted an obvious retarding effect on the cement
setting time. The initial setting time of the cement could be
extended to 7 h, satisfying the time requirement for CCBA, with
the addition of more than 4.5% anti-cracking agent.
Different amounts of anti-cracking agent were added to the
cement to study the impact of the agent on the strength of the
cement-stabilized base material. By simultaneously considering (b) strength loss ratio
the influence of different anti-cracking agent contents on both Fig. 6. The impact of the delay time with and without the agent on R7d.
the retardation of the initial setting and the base strength, the opti-
mum content was determined to be between 4 and 6%.
As shown in Fig. 6, for a delay time of up to 9 h, the strength loss compressive strength of the cement-stabilized base mixture after
ratio of a conventional cement material is 39%, whereas a material seven days of curing under standard conditions.
with 6% anti-cracking agent loses only 3% of its strength. Conse-
quently, the time required for CCBA can be completely achieved
with the addition of this agent. R7d represents the unconfined 3.2.2. Impact of the anti-cracking agent on the crack resistance of the
semi-rigid base material
Tests of dry shrinkage were performed in accordance with the
related Chinese Standard [21]. The results are shown in Fig. 7;
the average dry shrinkage coefficient of cement aggregates with
the addition of the anti-cracking agent is obviously smaller than
that of samples without the agent.

3.2.3. Durability and long-term strength of the cement-stabilized base

Fig. 5. Impact of anti-cracking agent addition on setting time of cement.
Based on the experimental results for the durability and long-
term strength of cement-stabilized bases shown in Table 1, the fol-
lowing conclusions can be drawn: (1) the strength of a cement-
stabilized gravel mixture with 6% anti-cracking agent increases
by 44.9% even after 20 wetdry cycles; (2) after being soaked in
water for 30 days, the strength of the material increases to a cer-
tain extent, and the frost resistance, resistance to sulfate corrosion
and heat resistance are also obviously improved compared with
those of conventional cement gravel mixtures. These results indi-
cate that adding an anti-cracking agent to a cement-stabilized base
mixture can improve both the initial and long-term strength of the
mixture as well as enhance its durability.
84 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088
Fig. 7. The impact of the anti-cracking agent on the time-dependent dry shrinkage
coefficient of cement-stabilized gravel.
4. Preparation and evaluation of test roads
To evaluate the effectiveness of CCBA, two test road sections
were constructed in Dangyang city. According to the meteorologi-
cal data for Dangyang city over the past ten years, the daily average
temperature is 16.4 C, the highest temperature is 40.9 C, which
occurs in July, and the lowest temperature is negative 15.6 C.
The average annual rainfall is 999.9 mm, and the average evapora-
tion is 837.0 mm. Therefore, Dangyang is categorized as a humid
region. The first test road was Hanyi Road, which was paved using
CCBA from K250+300 to K251+100; the second was Liangjiang
Road, which was paved using the CCT from K18+000 to K19+500.
The structure used for the test roads was 2.5 cm of AC-10 asphalt
concrete, 4.5 cm of AC-16 asphalt concrete, 0.5 cm of priming oil
(which was omitted in the former test road) and 30 cm of
cement-stabilized base (4.5% cement-stabilized crushed stone,
with a design unrefined compressive strength of 2.5 MPa; for
CCBA, an additional 6% anti-cracking agent was added to the
amount of cement), which was placed over the previous gravel
road (galling treatment). The subgrade of Hanyi Road is 15 m wide,
and the width of the pavement is 12 m. The weather conditions
during the construction were 31 C and 78% humidity.
First, the compaction scheme was determined by a field test.
The compaction procedure is commonly divided into three phases:
initial compaction, second compaction and final compaction. Four
compaction schemes were tested in the field, and the results are
shown in Table 2. Two Ingersoll Rand SD150 single-drum vibratory
rollers (with an exciting force of 48 tons) and one Ingersoll Rand
SD175 single-drum vibratory roller (with an exciting force of
52 tons) were utilized to compact the base. The moving speeds of
the rollers were 1.52 km/h in static compaction mode and 2
2.5 km/h in vibrating compaction mode. One Ingersoll Rand
DD130 double-drum vibratory roller (with an exciting force of
23 tons), one Ingersoll Rand DD110 double-drum roller (with both
a self-weight and an exciting force of 20 tons) and two Ingersoll
Table 1
Durability of limefly ash crushed stone mixture mixed with the anti-cracking agent.
Test project Cement-stabilized gravel with 6% anti-cracking agent
Wet and Dry Cycle (20 cycles) Strength Loss Ratio/% 44.9
Water Resistance (30 d) Strength Loss Ratio/% 17.1
Sulfate Corrosion Resistance Coefficient 1.18
Frost Resistance (7 cycles) Frozen Stability Coefficient 0.98
Rand DD146 double-drum rollers (with an exciting force of
25 tons) were used to compact the asphalt layer. The moving
speeds of the rollers were 23 km/h during the initial compaction,
34 km/h during the second compaction, and 36 km/h during the
final compaction. The temperature during the initial compaction
was controlled to remain above 150 C and was no less than
90 C upon completion of the final compaction. The compaction
of the asphalt layer (or sub-asphalt layer) was required to be com-
pleted before the initial setting of the cement in the base mixture.
The results of the field compaction tests are presented in Table 2.
Comparing the four sets of data presented in Table 2 clearly
shows that all four schemes satisfy the target compaction degree
requirement for the asphalt layer (9698%) and exceed that for
the base (98100%). The measured compaction degree of the base
exceeded the theoretical maximum compaction degree for the rea-
sons discussed in Section 4.5. The third compaction scheme was
concluded to be the best because it required the lowest energy
consumption and offered the highest construction efficiency.
Therefore, the test roads were compacted following the third com-
paction scheme.
The base and the asphalt sub-layer of Hanyi Road were con-
structed on Sep. 16, 2006. At 8:30 a.m., mixing of the base material
began. At 9:38 a.m., the first truck transporting the base mixture
arrived at the site, and the base paver began operation. At 9:50 a.
m., the base rollers began operation; 34 min later, the asphalt
paver began to pave the asphalt mixture. At 10:30 a.m., the asphalt
rollers started operation. The base mixture and asphalt mixture
were transported to the pavers laterally because the direct route
was obstructed. The construction of the Hanyi test road was com-
pleted at 2:17 p.m. The Liangjiang Road was constructed using the
CCT. For brevity, its construction procedures are not described
here.
Based on a comparative analysis of the cracking ratio, extent of
interlayer binding, base strength and humidity observed when the
technique was or was not used, the feasibility and reasonability of
CCBA are discussed in the following sections.
4.1. Measurement and analysis of the water content of the base layer
The water sprinkling procedure is omitted in CCBA; instead, the
asphalt pavement is laid immediately after the base is compacted.
In other words, no additional water is used for curing the base
material. However, the presence of adequate water in the base
material is essential to its curing. The variation in water content
in the base after constructing the test road is shown in Table 3.
The water content of the cement-stabilized base material, paved
using CCBA, remained nearly identical to the optimum water con-
tent for a month after it was paved, with only slight differences of
0.20.5%. Such small changes will not induce dry shrinkage cracks.
4.2. Measurement and analysis of the base strength
As shown in Table 4, the test results from core samples drilled
out of the test road indicated an unconfined compressive strength
of greater than 2.5 MPa three days after completing the pavement.
This value satisfied the requirement for the road to be opened to
Cement-stabilized gravel without anti-cracking agent
2.3
1.9
1.04
0.60
 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088 85

Table 2
The field compaction test results.

Compaction Compaction process Base compaction degree Asphalt layer

scheme (%) compaction
Base Asphalt layer
degree (%)
Initial Second Final Initial Second Final Before After asphalt
compaction compaction compaction compaction compaction compaction asphalt layer
SD150 (times) SD175 (times) SD150 DD130 DD146 (times) DD110 layer compacted
(times) (times) (times) paved
1 1 (static mode), 1 4 (vibration 2 (static 1 (static 4 (vibration 2 (static 98.6 102.3 97.3
(semi-vibration mode) mode) mode) mode) mode)
mode)
2 1 (static mode), 1 3 (vibration 2 (static 1 (static 4 (vibration 2 (static 97.7 101.8 97.1
(semi-vibration mode) mode) mode) mode) mode)
mode)
3 1 (static mode), 1 2 (vibration 1 (static 1 (static 4 (vibration 2 (static 96.2 100.7 96.7
(semi-vibration mode) mode) mode) mode) mode)
mode)
4 1 (static mode), 1 2 (vibration 1 (static 1 (static 5 (vibration 2 (static 96.2 101.3 97.2
(semi-vibration mode) mode) mode) mode) mode)
mode)

Note: The underline indicates the utilized roller, and the number before the parentheses indicates how many times the roller compacted.

Table 3
Water content change of test road base.

Structure type Water content (%)

Paving 1st 2nd 7th 28th
day day day day
Cement-stabilized 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.2
aggregate
Cement-stabilized gravel 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.2 5.2

Table 4
Early strength of drilling core samples of test roads.

Pile No. Average strength (MPa)

K250+(850-780) 4.30
K250+(780-690) 2.94
K250+(440-410) 2.55
K250+(470-440) 2.62 Fig. 8. Drilled sample photograph that shows the tight bond between the pavement
K250+(490-470) 3.65 and base.

rate is 2 mm/min. The specimens are cylindrical in shape. The con-

traffic. This finding indicates that with the addition of the anti-
cracking agent, the curing period can be successfully eliminated
in CCBA. The high early strength may be attributable to the higher
temperature due to the heat from the cement hydration in the base
material and the heat transferred from the asphalt layer. Hydration
heat does not cause a considerable temperature rise because of the
small amount of cement that is used, which would assist in accel-
erating the subsequent development of the base strength.
4.3. Comparative analysis of the bonding strength between the base
and the pavement
As indicated by samples cored from the road sections con-
structed using the different methods, the asphalt overlay had
begun to separate from the base in the CCT samples. In contrast,
the base and pavement samples drilled from the road paved using
CCBA were tightly bonded with each other (as shown in Fig. 8). The
embed depth of the asphalt pavement mixture in the base was
approximately 15 mm, and the shear strength of the interface
between the asphalt pavement and the base was tested by the
self-made shear tester, which is shown in Fig. 9. The vertical down-
ward pressure on the interface of the specimen is decomposed into
the normal pressure and the shear pressure. The supporting plat-
form is free to slide. The test temperature is 20 C, and the loading
cave parts of the steel clamps are inclined to the same direction at
26.34. The concave part is designed as half cylindrical in shape to
adapt to the cylindrical specimen. The shear strength can be calcu-
lated as following:
p
smax p 1
5A
where smax is the maximum shear stress, i.e., the shear strength of
the bond between the base and asphalt pavement, P is the maxi-
mum failure load, and A is the cross-sectional area of the specimen.
As shown in Table 5, the shear strength between the base and
asphalt layers was greater than 0.43 MPa. Considering the damage
to the samples induced during coring, the true bonding conditions
are expected to be even better. This favorite bonding may be attrib-
uted to the interlock between the base and the bottom asphalt
layer. When the asphalt layer is compacted, the base has not yet
initially set. Thus, the base will not be too rigid for asphalt aggre-
gates to become embedded in it. The embedded aggregates form
an interlock between the base and the bottom asphalt layer,
improving the contact conditions at the interface. Because the
asphalt pavement and the base are mutually interlocked and this
mutual penetration occurs at the beginning of the hydration pro-
cess of the cement-stabilized base material, the bonding between
these two layers should be enhanced.
86 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088

loading rod

environmental cabinet

(b) front view of steel clamp (c) right view of steel clamp
steel clamp

steel clamp

asphalt
support block
interface
base

(a) schematic diagram of shear tester (d) top view of steel clamp (e) specimen structure diagram

Fig. 9. Schematic diagram of the shear tester and its steel clamp and a specimen.

Table 5 modified emulsified asphalt. Because the thickness of these asphalt

Bond strength between the base and surface layer of asphalt core samples.
No. Diameter/mm Critical load/kN Shear strength/MPa
1 43.8 0.65 0.43
2 48.7 0.65 0.43
3 43.7 0.64 0.43
4 35.7 0.80 0.79
4.4. Comparative analysis of cracks
Field observations of cracks in the pavements were recorded on
September 20, 2006, March 6, 2011, and March 6, 2016. The traffic
statistics for Dangyang city show that in the 9.5 years after the
construction of the test roads, the average annual traffic on Liang-
jiang Road has been 64,238 equivalent axle loads, while that on
Hanyi Road has been 69,727 equivalent axle loads; therefore, the
traffic loads of these two test roads are approximately the same.
The distance between these two test roads is approximately
6.4 km; thus, the service environments of the two test roads can
also be considered to be the same. For 4.5 years after the test roads
were paved, only 2 transverse cracks per kilometer were observed
in the pavement paved using CCBA. However, in the road with the
same structure constructed using the CCT, there were 96 trans-
verse cracks per kilometer (Table 6). The crack ratio of the former
was therefore approximately 2.1% that of the latter. Nine and a half
years later, only 11 transverse cracks per kilometer were observed
in Hanyi Road, and only 9 new cracks occurred in Hanyi Road dur-
ing the last five years. However, due to the severity of its service
quality, a new asphalt overlay (3 cm AC-10) was paved over the
Liangjiang Road in July 2014. Thus, Hanyi Road and Liangjiang
Road do not need to be compared in the last detection. The cracks
were timely treated in both roads, mainly by filling cracks with
pavements was small (only 7.0 cm in total), all base cracks were
Average/MPa expected to be reflected in the asphalt pavement after 9.5 years
0.52
of heavy traffic. Therefore, the base paved using CCBA had fewer
cracks.
The evenness of the pavements paved using CCBA is superior to
that of conventional pavements. Therefore, CCBA leads to a higher
riding quality of the road. Furthermore, the deflection of the sec-
tion constructed using CCBA is smaller than that of conventionally
paved roads, indicating that roads paved using CCBA also demon-
strate greater bearing capacity. In addition, the friction coefficient
of the CCBA section is greater than that of the CCT section. Usually,
the friction coefficient of an asphalt overlay is related to the type of
asphalt concrete used (mainly the aggregate angularity and the
interlocking structure among the asphalt mixture) and the con-
struction quality. The coefficients of both test road sections were
initially the same. However, because the pavement constructed
using CCBA exhibits stronger bearing capacity, greater riding qual-
ity, and greater water resistance (fewer cracks), its durability
should also be greater. Better durability implies slower deteriora-
tion in performance, which may account for the difference in fric-
tion coefficients between the two test roads.
4.5. Discussion about the testing roads
The results obtained on the test roads indicate that CCBA can
improve the crack resistance of asphalt pavements with cement-
stabilized bases through the mechanism analyzed below.
The data in Table 3 indicate that the water content in the mate-
rial of a cement-stabilized base constructed using CCBA remains
very close to the optimum water content for at least a month after
paving, with only slight differences of 0.20.5%. This decrease is so
small that dry shrinkage cracking in the base is almost impossible.

Table 6
Road performance detection for test roads.

Pile No. Construction Width Operation time Evenness Deflection value Friction Cracks (per
method (m) (y) (m km1) (0.01 mm) coefficient km)
Hanyi Road K250K251 CCBA 12 0 1.8 23 48 0
4.5 2.0 22 44 2
9.5 2.5 28 37 11
Liangjiang Road K18 CCT 9 0 3.5 28 48 0
K19 4.5 4.0 56 42 96
9.5

Note: Due to the severity of its service quality, a new asphalt overlay (3 cm AC-10) was paved over Liangjiang Road in July 2014. Thus, Liangjiang Road could no longer be
compared to Hanyi Road.
 H. Fang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 119 (2016) 8088
Moreover, the results shown in Table 4 prove that the initial
strength of the cement-stabilized base material is not undermined,
which indirectly verifies the presence of plenty of water for cement
hydration even though the base is covered by the asphalt layer and
no additional water supply is provided from above. Furthermore,
the temperature variation of the base also decreases because it is
covered by the asphalt layer. As a result, the temperature shrinkage
in the early stage is reduced to some extent. Moreover, the heat
transferred downward from the newly paved asphalt layer and
the heat from hydration of the base material can accelerate the
strength development of the base and enhance its crack resistance
during the early stage. Additionally, the anti-cracking agent also
enhances the crack resistance of the base. All of the factors men-
tioned above contribute to ensuring very little crack formation in
the base of the road paved using CCBA. As a result, fewer reflective
cracks occur in the asphalt pavement.
The bonding between the base and the asphalt overlay is also
enhanced by CCBA, as shown in Table 5. Many studies have shown
that stronger bonding leads to better structural performance in
asphalt pavements [2224]. Better contact between the base and
the asphalt pavement will result in less tensile stress at the bottom
of the asphalt layer, leading to less damage to the asphalt pave-
ment. Because CCBA improves the contact state between the base
and the asphalt pavement, it enhances the crack resistance of an
asphalt pavement with a cement-stabilized base.
Although the test road constructed using CCBA demonstrated
great success in mitigating reflective cracking in asphalt pavement
with a cement-stabilized base, there are still several critical issues
that require further study, such as the compaction scheme for the
road, and the methods of field inspection during construction.
The measured results for the compaction degrees of the test
roads are shown in Table 2. The observed compaction degree
exceeds the theoretical maximum compaction degree of the base.
The quality of the base strongly depends on the compaction per-
formed in the field. Even a well-designed and well-produced base
mixture will demonstrate poor structural performance if the field
compaction is poor. Both under-compaction and over-compaction
will result in unexpected road performance. For this reason, the
compaction degree must be controlled within an acceptable range.
For the test road, the base mixture was compacted to the design
degree during the base construction. Then, the asphalt mixture
was paved before the base mixture set. Thus, the base mixture
was compacted once more during the compaction of the asphalt
layer, which is partly why the compaction degree of the base in
the test road exceeded the design value. To avoid such over-
compaction, the compaction scheme should be optimized. The
base should not reach its design compaction degree before the
asphalt overlay is paved. The base and the asphalt layers should
be simultaneously compacted to their design compaction degrees,
which will not be easy to achieve without further study. The com-
paction scheme for CCBA may be appropriately established
through numerical simulation of the compaction process (typically
performed using the discrete element method). Another reason for
the observed over-compaction may be improper design of the base
material. In China, the maximum dry density of the base material is
determined from tests performed on samples compacted by falling
weights, which differs from the field compaction applied by rollers
and may lead to underestimation of the maximum dry density. The
only way to eliminate this type of over-compaction is to improve
the design system, including the methods used to test the base
material.
For CCBA, because the base is covered by the asphalt layer
shortly after completing the rolling, the on-site inspection of the
construction quality of the base requires special consideration.
Generally speaking, aside from material indices (i.e., gradation,
mixing ratio, water content, etc.), the most important issues
87
related to the basic construction of the base layer are the com-
paction degree, external dimensions (i.e., thickness, transverse
slope, flatness, etc.) and strength. Methods of fast, nondestructive
testing can be adopted, such as non-nuclear electrical density
gauges (EDGs), to determine the degree of compaction; ground-
penetrating radar (GPR) can be applied after surface paving to
determine the external size; and the strength of the base can be
inversely calculated using FWD to comprehensively test the deflec-
tion of the pavement. In addition, with the emergence of intelligent
compactors, routine site inspections can be performed based on
real-time feedback from a sensor mounted on the roller at the time
of primary rolling [25,26], which will further enhance the feasibil-
ity of CCBA. However, the quality management task is rather com-
plex because of the short duration of the construction process;
further studies should be conducted to address this problem.
5. Conclusions
This paper proposed a novel construction method called contin-
uous construction of the base and asphalt layers (CCBA) and dis-
cussed its feasibility for solving the problem of reflective
cracking in asphalt pavement with a cement-stabilized base. In
addition, a test road was built for field testing using this construc-
tion technique. The results show that compared with the CCT,
CCBA can lead to fewer reflective cracks in the asphalt pavement.
The analysis indicates that CCBA can both reduce the base cracks
and enhance the bonding between the base and the asphalt pave-
ment, which contributes to limiting the reflection cracks in asphalt
pavement.
Acknowledgements
The work reported in this article is part of a project sponsored
by the Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No. 51578261), the
Science and technology support program of Hubei Province, China
(Grant No. 2015BAA112) and the Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities (Grant No. 2015MS071).
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