Soil

Soil is the ground support on which roads are built. Soil which originated from weathering of
rocks, is the loose mass of mineral available in abundance over the crust of the earth.
The subgrade, which is the bottom-most layer of a pavement, is made up of compacted soil. Road
embankments are built with soil. Soil is sometimes used as one of the ingredients in the
base/subbase layer of a pavement. Characterization of soil, that is, knowledge of behavior of soil
is an essential part of pavement engineering.
Characterization
A number of parameters are used for characterization of soil. Some of them such as Resilient
Modulus, Poisson’s Ratio, and Permeability of a soil.
Resilient Modulus
The elastic modulus is an important parameter used in the analysis and design of a pavement
structure. For soil and granular material, the equivalent term is resislent modulaus (Mr).
Subgrade
 Layer of natural soil prepared to receive the layers of pavement materials placed over it.
 Traffic load moving on the surface of the road is ultimately transferred to the subgrade
through intermediate layers and this transmitted pressure should be within the allowable
limit so as not to cause excessive stresses condition or deform the same beyond the elastic
limit.
 The top layer of the subgrade soil should be well-compacted under controlled condition of
optimum moisture content so as to achieve maximum dry density.
 It is necessary to evaluate the strength properties of soil subgrade.
 If the strength properties are inferior, suitable treatment should be given to impact
improvements in the performance of soil subgrade.

Failures in Subgrade
Two main reasons for failures in the subgrade:
 Excessive stress application: If the pavement thickness in inadequate or the loads are in
excess of the design value, the excessive stress is developed and it harms as load receptions
are increased.
 Inadequate Stability: the resistance to deformation under stress is known as stability. The
inadequate stability of the subgrade is developed due to the inherent weakness of the soil
itself or excessive moisture or improper compaction.

Failures in Flexible Pavement

Flexible pavement failure is defined by the localized depression or settlements.
Conolidation of pavement layers:
Formation of waves

The properties of the subgrade soil plays important role in deciding pavement thickness. A
subgrade with lower stability requires thicker pavement in order to protect it from traffic loads.
To ensure proper soil characteristics, the stability and volume of the subgrade soil with change in
moisture contents are to be properly considered, the stress-strain behavior of the soil under static
and repeated loads have more significant.
The rainfall affects the moisture contents in the subgrade and the pavement layers. In the
performance of pavements seasonal variation in temperature has very significant role. Where
freezing temperatures are prevalent during winters, the possibility of frost action in the subgrade
and the damaging effects should be considered at the design stage itself. The characteristic of the
materials used in pavement construction decides the stress distribution in pavement.