TRAN3001

Highway Engineering
Lecture
9
Structural Design
AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design
Rigid Pavement Design
Road Note 29

Structural Design
Flexible Pavement
A key element of flexible pavement design
in the 1993 AASHTO Guide for Design of
Pavement Structures is the Structural
Number (SN), which represents the overall
structural requirement needed to sustain
the traffic loads expected in the design.
The SN depends on a combination of soil
support, ESAL loading, pavement
serviceability and environmental
conditions. Nomographs are generally
used to determine the value of SN.

Structural Design

Structural Design (Contd)

Flexible Pavement (Contd)
Once the value of the Structural Number (SN)
is known, the appropriate thickness of each of
the pavement layers can be determined. The
following equation shows the relationship
between the SN and layer thickness:
SN = a1D1 + a2D2m2 + a3D3m3
where a is a layer coefficient representing the
relative strength of the material, D is the layer
thickness and m is a drainage coefficient.

Structural Design (Contd)

Flexible Pavement (Contd)
The subscript number used in the equation
indicates which layer is meant, with the numbering
beginning at the top of the pavement structure.
For design purposes, layer coefficients are usually
determined empirically based on the performance
of the material. Some typical layer coefficient
values are:
Hot mix asphalt 0.44
(Aggregate) roadbase 0.13
Subbase 0.10

Structural Design (Contd)

Flexible Pavement (Contd)
The drainage coefficient is a value assigned to
a pavement layer which represents its relative
loss of strength due to drainage
characteristics or exposure to moisture
saturation.
Layers that drain slowly or are often saturated
would have a lower drainage coefficient, while
layers that drain quickly and rarely become
saturated would have a higher coefficient.
For pavement designs, the drainage
coefficients are generally set to 1 which
indicates normal drainage characteristics.

Structural Design (Contd)

Flexible Pavement (Contd)
With the appropriate layer and drainage
coefficients known, suitable thicknesses
for each of the pavement layers can then
be determined .
The relationship between SN and layer
thicknesses does not give a single correct
answer for the thickness of each
pavement layer. There will normally be
different combinations of layer thicknesses
that could achieve the required SN.

Structural Design (Contd)

Flexible Pavement (Contd)
The final determination of the thickness of
each layer would be based on the relative
costs of materials for different layers, along
with practical design and construction
considerations (such as not making any
one layer too thick or thin).
The SN can also be used to
evaluate/rehabilitate existing pavements
by determining its value with the existing
layer thicknesses as compared to the
required SN for the updated design.

Structural Design

Rigid Pavement
The Design Process
The steps in the design of a rigid pavement
are similar to those for a flexible pavement:
ESAL loading on a rigid (Portland cement
concrete) pavement is computed as for
flexible pavements, however the design life
is generally longer, as much as 40 years.
Subgrade strength is assessed, but unlike
flexible pavements, rigid pavements are
designed to have sufficient beam strength to
span over localized subgrade failures and
areas where subgrade support is inadequate.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
The Design Process (Contd)
Depressions which occur beneath properly
designed and constructed rigid pavements
are not reflected in their running surfaces.
The ESAL loading and subgrade support is
used to determine the type and thickness
of each of the pavement elements.
Rigid Pavement Cross-Section
Like flexible roads, the cross-section of a
concrete road comprises a pavement
superimposed on subgrade soil.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Rigid Pavement Cross-Section (Contd)
Rigid pavements are concrete slabs placed
either directly on a prepared subgrade or more
commonly on a single layer of granular
material.
The one layer of material between the concrete
slab and the subgrade is called the subbase.
Subgrade
With respect to rigid pavements, the most
important function of the subgrade is to provide
uniform support for the concrete slab.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase
If the subgrade cannot provide adequate
support throughout the design life of the
pavement, a subbase layer will need to be
included as part of the pavement structure.
The unsatisfactory subgrade conditions
which provision of a subbase will correct
include high volume-change characteristics,
poor drainage and mud- pumping, which is
the forced ejection of a mixture of soil and
water from the subgrade.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase (Contd)
Clays with high plasticity are typical of the
soils which need to be protected by a subbase.
This layer prevents eventual failure of the
pavement when concrete slabs are laid directly
on a subgrade soil which does not provide
adequate support.
As the subgrade will be subjected to loading
from construction equipment, the subbase
also provides a working platform.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase (Contd)
Minimizing volume changes
Soils which are susceptible to volume
changes when moisture is taken up or lost
during the wet and dry seasons
respectively, require a sufficient thickness
of granular subbase to both hold down the
subgrade and control the moisture content
to reduce volume changes.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase (Contd)
Improving drainage
The granular subbase acts as a drainage
layer to minimize the accumulation of water
within the pavement, which weakens the
subgrade.
Preventing mud-pumping
If pavement slabs are placed directly on finegrained soils, water entering the pavement
can cause soil to be ejected through joints,
edges and cracks under frequent heavy
traffic.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase (Contd)
Preventing mud-pumping (Contd)
In addition to the ingress of water and
continuous heavy wheel loading, for
pumping to occur the subgrade soil must go
into suspension.
This makes fine-grained soils susceptible to
mud-pumping as this suspension is what is
ejected as the slab repeatedly deflects
under constant, heavy traffic loads.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Subbase (Contd)
Preventing mud-pumping (Contd)
The subbase comprises a free-draining material
and this layer should have sufficient depth and
extend through the shoulders so that any
water entering the pavement can drain.
Providing a working surface during construction
A sufficient depth of dense, well-compacted
subbase material can protect the subgrade soil
from the detrimental effects of construction
loads and weather.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design
Portland Cement Concrete consists of
three basic components: aggregate,
water and Portland cement.
The purpose of the concrete mix design
is to determine the most economical and
practical combination of readily available
materials to produce a concrete that will
satisfy the performance requirements
under the particular conditions of use.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
For concrete used in pavements the
requirements include resistance to
deformation, durability over time, resistant
to water damage, controlled shrinkage
cracking, a good skid-resistant surface, as
well as relatively inexpensive, readily
manufactured and easily placed.
In order to satisfy these requirements mix
design can alter the type and quantity of the
basic components and incorporate
admixtures to improve workability, etc.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
The mix design procedure usually
involves the following three basic steps:
Material selection which identifies the
sources and specifications of the
materials to be used in the mix.
Mix proportioning which determines the
proportions of the component materials
necessary to produce a mix with the
desired properties.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
Mix testing which uses laboratory testing
to evaluate and characterize trial mixes
and thereby provide a good understanding
of how a particular mix will perform in the
field during construction and under
subsequent traffic loading.
The more accurate mix design methods
combine the mix constituents by volume
rather than weight.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
Volume measurements are usually made
indirectly by determining each materials
weight and specific gravity and then
calculating its volume.
Strength tests are carried out on concrete
cubes or cylinders to determine the
characteristic compressive strength of the
concrete, which is the value below which
less than a specified percentage (usually
5%) of the samples will fall.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
The water-cement ratio affects both
strength and workability (ease of working
with the concrete). Water for use in the
mix is generally specified as potable.
Strength testing ensures that the
concrete is of pavement quality and for
unreinforced concrete indirect tensile
tests may also be carried out. Otherwise,
tensile strength values of 10% 12% of
the compressive strength can be used.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
Laboratory tests are carried out at different
water contents to determine the optimum
amount of water that will produce a
concrete of maximum strength from a
particular mix of fine and coarse aggregate
and cement.
The workability also depends on the
quantity of water used. The use of less than
the optimum amount of water may make
setting difficult and reduce workability.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
When more water than the optimum amount
is used greater shrinkage and a reduction in
strength will occur.
From the water-cement content the cement
content can be determined.
The total aggregate content is then
determined based on an estimate of the
density of the (fully compacted) concrete.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Pavement Concrete Mix Design (Contd)
The coarse/fine aggregate ratio is then tested
for the minimum void content which indicates
the optimum particle packing and ratio.
Types of Concrete Pavement
Concrete slabs for road pavements may be
plain or reinforced.
With plain concrete, transverse joints are
usually provided at regular intervals to
prevent cracking from expansion and
contraction of the concrete.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Types of Concrete Pavement (Contd)
Reinforcement provided to control cracking,
such as prefabricated mesh, terminate at
the transverse joints.
For plain concrete and where reinforcement
is provided to control cracking, load
transfer at the transverse joints is effected
by the use of dowels, which are short steel
bars treated over half their lengths with a
bond-breaking compound like bitumen.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Types of Concrete Pavement (Contd)
This provides a mechanical connection
between slabs without restricting
horizontal joint movement.
Slabs may also be continuously reinforced
in which case transverse joints are not
provided as sufficient steel is provided
primarily to control cracking and transfer
loads as well as to provide resistance to
induced flexural stresses.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Types of Concrete Pavement (Contd)
sealing
compound
transverse
joint
cap
compressible
material
longitudinal
joint
dowel bar painted over half
bitumen
Concrete Slab

its length with

Expansion Joint

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Types of Concrete Pavement (Contd)
The free ends of dowel bars in an
expansion joint are fitted with dowel caps
so that a space is formed at the end of
each bar, into which the bar can move
when the slab expands.
An expansion joint permits contraction
movement and also allows a small amount
of angular rotation to release warping
stresses caused by temperature differences
between the top and bottom of the slab.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)

Road Note 29 Design Method
This method of design, as outlined in the above
document (A guide to the Structural Design of
Pavements for New Roads, Third Edition, 1970)
is based on an empirical approach using results
from roads in service.
Concrete used in road construction is required
to have a minimum 28-day compressive
strength of 28 kN/m2. The flexural strength for
this grade of concrete is more than 3 kN/m 2
which indicates that it has significant beam
strength.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Road Note 29 Design Method
The modulus of elasticity is in the order of 34
MN/m2 which means that the concrete slab has
a high degree of rigidity.
Because of the beam strength and rigidity of the
concrete the wheel loads on the slab are spread
over a large area, resulting in small deflections
and very low pressures on the subgrade.
Consequently subgrade strength is less
important for rigid pavement than for flexible
pavement design.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Road Note 29 Design Method (Contd)
The following are the three broad subgrade
classes:
Subgrade
Description
Min. Subbase
Class
Thickness (mm)
Weak
Normal

CBR < 2%
Subgrades not in the
other categories

Very Stable

CBR > 15

150
80
0

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Road Note 29 Design Method (Contd)
The thickness of either reinforced or unreinforced
slabs depend on the subgrade type and on the
cumulative number of standard axles (ESALs)
carried by the pavement during its design life.
The concrete slab thickness, weight of
reinforcement (varies with the ESALs) and joint
spacing (varies with the weight of
reinforcement) are indicated) on design charts in
Road Note 29.

Structural Design (Contd)

Rigid Pavement (Contd)
Road Note 29 Design Method (Contd)
As an asphalt surfacing provides smooth,
joint-free travelling lanes, this may be used
as an overlay on a new rigid pavement
or in the rehabilitation of an existing one.
The Road Note 29 design charts (for new
road construction) give the required
thickness of the concrete slab, for a
specified thickness of bituminous
surfacing, which is dependent on the
subgrade CBR and ESAL loading.