History of IRC 37 Flexible Pavement

First brought out in 1970, based on

California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of subgrade
and
traffic in terms of number of commercial
vehicles (more than 3 tonnes laden weight).
Revised in 1984, based on
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of subgrade
and
design traffic in terms of cumulative
number of equivalent standard axle load of
80 kN in millions of standard axles (MSA) and

History of IRC 37 Flexible Pavement

The guidelines were revised again in 2001
Designed For Traffic As High As 150 Msa.
Based On Semi-mechanistic Approach
Based on the results of the MORTHs
research scheme

R-56 implemented at IIT

Kharagpur. FPAVE was developed

Multilayer elastic theory was adopted for
stress

analysis

of

the

layered

elastic

system.
A large number of data collected from
different parts of India under various
research schemes of MORTH were used for

Design concepts of IRC 37 Flexible Pavement

The IRC: 37-2001 based on a Mechanistic
Empirical approach,
the design life of pavement . is, till
the fatigue cracking in bituminous surface
extended to 20 per cent of the pavement surface
area
or
rutting in the pavement reached the terminal
rutting of 20 mm,
whichever happened earlier.
The IRC: 37-2012 based on a Scientific cum
Mechanical approach,
the design life of pavement . Is, the same
approach

Design concepts of IRC 37 Flexible Pavement

These revised guidelines aim at
Pavement

design

by

including

alternate

materials like cementitious and reclaimed

asphalt materials
Analysis

using

the

software

IITPAVE,

modified version of FPAVE developed under

the Research Scheme R-56

SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINES IRC

37-2012
Flexible pavements include pavements with
Bituminous surfacing over:
(i) Granular base and sub-base
(ii) Cementitious bases and sub-bases with a crack relief
layer of aggregate interlayer below the bituminous
surfacing
(iii) Cementitious bases and sub-bases with SAMI inbetween bituminous surfacing and the cementitious base
layer for retarding the reflection cracks into the bituminous
layer
(iv) Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) with or without
addition of fresh aggregates treated with foamed

New elements of IRC 37 2912

(i) Incorporation of design period of more than
fifteen years.
(ii) Computation of effective CBR of subgrade for
pavement design.
(iii) Use of rut resistant surface layer.
(iv) Use of fatigue resistant bottom bituminous
layer.
(v) Selection of surface layer to prevent top down
cracking.
(vi) Use of bitumen emulsion/foamed bitumen
treated Reclaimed Asphalt Pavements in base

New elements of IRC 37 2912

(vii) Consideration of stabilized sub-base and
base with locally available soil and aggregates.
(viii) Design of drainage layer.
(ix) Computation of equivalent single axle load
considering (a) single axle with single wheels
(b) single axle with dual wheels (c) tandem axle
and (d) tridem axles.
(x) Design of perpetual pavements with deep
strength bituminous layer.

design of flexible pavement

Design based on multiple layer elastic theory
Influencing Factors
Sub-grade conditions
Wheel load
Traffic intensity
Climate
Terrain
8

Traffic Data required

Initial traffic after construction in terms of
Commercial Vehicles Per Day
Commercial vehicle Having more than 3 tonne
axle load
Traffic growth rate during the design life
Design life in no. of years
Vehicle damage factor
Distribution of commercial vehicle over the
carriageway

TRAFFIC
Traffic Projection based on
(i) The past trends of traffic growth
(ii) Demand of traffic with respect to macro-economic
parameters (like GDP or SDP) and
(iii) expected demand due to specific developments
and land use changes likely to take place during
design life.
If the data for the annual growth rate of
commercial vehicles is not available
Or
if it is less than 5 per cent,
a growth rate of 5 per cent should be used
(IRC:SP:84-2009).
( as per Cl 4.2.2 of IRC 37-2012)

Design life

Expressways Design life is 20 Years

NH and SH, Design life is 15 Years
For MDR, design life of 10 to 15 Years
For ODR, Design life is 10 Years
Stage Construction
Reason : Cost constrains
a) Base and Sub base are designed for Full design life
b) Bituminous layers for Less years,
but not less than 5 years in any case
11

Vehicle Damage factor

It is multiplier to convert the number of commercial
Vehicle of different axle loads and axle configuration to
Standard configuration
Arrived from Axle load Survey
Factors considered:
Traffic Mix
Mode of transportation
Commodities Carried
Season of the year
Road condition
Degree of Enforcement
12

Vehicle Damage factor

Sl No

Initial Traffic
after
Completion of
Traffic in CVPD

Indicative VDF Value

Rolling /
Plain

Hilly

0 - 150

1.50

0.50

150 - 1500

3.50

1.50

More than 1500

4.50

2.50
13

Lane Distribution Factor

Realistic assessment of Distribution of

Commercial Vehicle by Lane

Single Lane

1.00

Intermediate Lane

1.00

Two Lane Single Carriage way

0.50

Four Lane Single Carriage way

0.40

Dual Carriage way (Each Direction)

Two Lane
Three Lane
Four Lane

0.75
0.60
0.40

14

Design Traffic in MSA

N = 365 X ((1+r)n 1)x A x D X F

r
N = Cumulative Standard Axle over Design life
A = Initial traffic after construction in terms of
Commercial Vehicles Per Day,
D=Lane Distribution factor
F = Vehicle Damage Factor
r = Annual Growth Rate
A = P (1 + r)x
P = Traffic in CVD as per last count,
x = Number of years between last count and
Completion of Project

15

SUBGRADE
The select soil forming the subrade should have
a minimum CBR of 8 per cent for roads having
traffic of 450 commercial vehicles per day or
higher.

Number of tests, design value and

tolerance limit
Where different types of soils are used in
subgrade,
a minimum of six to eight average CBR values
(average of three tests) for each soil type
90th percentile of CBR - for high volume
roads such as Expressways, National
Highways and State Highways.

The following example illustrates the procedure for

finding the design.
16 CBR values for a highway alignment are as follows:
3.5, 5.2, 8.0, 6.8, 8.8, 4.2, 6.4, 4.6, 9.0, 5.7, 8.4, 8.2,
7.3, 8.6, 8.9, 7.6
Arrange the above 16 values in ascending order
3.5, 4.2, 4.6, 5.2, 5.7, 6.4, 6.8, 7.3, 7.6, 8.0, 8.2, 8.4,
8.6, 8.8, 8.9, 9.0
For CBR of 3.5, percentage of values greater than
equal to 3.5 = (16/16) * 100 = 100
For CBR of 4.2, percentage of values greater than
equal to 4.2 = (15/16) * 100 = 93.75 and so on.

Now a plot is made between percentages of

values greater than equal and the CBR values
versus the CBR as follows.

The 90th percentile CBR value = 4.7, and 80th

percentile CBR = 5.7 in.
Asphalt Institute of USA (6) recommends 87.5
percentile subgrade modulus for design traffic
greater than one msa.

Effective CBR

PAVEMENT COMPOSITION

Stress Absorbing Membrane Interlayer (SAMI) of

elastomeric modified binder at the rate of about
2 litre/m2 covered with light application of 10
mm aggregates to prevent picking up of the
binder by construction traffic(AUSTROADS).

Sub-base layer

The sub-base should be composed of two layers,

the lower layer forms the separation/filter layer
to prevent intrusion of subgrade soil into the
pavement (Grading III & IV) and
the upper GSB forms the drainage layer to drain
away any water that may enter through surface
cracks. (Grading V & VI)
The drainage layer should be tested for
permeability and gradation may be altered to
ensure the required permeability. Filter and
drainage layers can be designed as per IRC: SP:

Determination of Resilient Modulus

The behaviour of the subgrade is essentially
elastic
under the transient traffic loading
with negligible permanent deformation in a
single pass.
Resilient modulus is the measure of its elastic
behaviour determined from recoverable
The
relation between
resilient modulus
and
deformation
in the laboratory
tests.
the effective CBR is given as:
MR (MPa) = 10 * CBR
5
= 17.6 * (CBR)0.64
>5

for CBR
for CBR

MR = Resilient modulus of subgrade soil.

Strength parameter
The relevant design parameter for granular subbase is resilient modulus (MR), which is given by
the following equation:
MRgsb = 0.2*h0.45 * MR

subgrade

Where h = thickness of sub-base layer in mm

MR value of the sub-base is dependent upon the MR
value of the subgrade since weaker subgrade does
not permit higher modulus of the upper layer
because of deformation under loads.

Poissons ratio
Poissons ratio of granular bases and subbases is recommended as 0.35.
Bituminous layers

depends upon the pavement temperature

a value of 0.35 is recommended for temperature
up to 35C value of 0.50 for higher temperatures.

Resilient Modulus of Bituminous Mixes, MPa

Mix type
Temperature C
35
40
BC and DBM for VG10 bitumen 2300

20

25

30

2000

1450

1000

800

BC and DBM for VG30 bitumen 3500

3000

2500

1700

1250

BC and DBM for VG40 bitumen 6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

3800

2400

1650

BC and DBM for Modified Bitumen

(IRC: SP: 53-2010)
5700
1300
BM with VG 10 bitumen 500 MPa at 35C
BM with VG 30 bitumen 700 MPa at 35C
WMM/RAP treated with 3 per
cent
bitumen
emulsion/foamed bitumen (2
per cent residual bitumen
and 1 per cent cementatious

600 MPa at 35C (laboratory

values vary from 700 to 1200 MPa
for water saturated samples).

Using Design catalogues

Note:
(a)These charts are to be used for traffic above 2
msa. For traffic below 2 msa IRC SP 72-2007 should
be referred to. City roads should be designed for
minimum 2 msa traffic.
(b) Thickness design for traffic between 2 and 30
msa is exactly as per IRC 37-2001.
(c) In all cases of cementitious sub-bases (i.e. cases
2,3 and 4 above) the top 100 mm thickness of subbase is to be porous and act as drainage layer

Clarifications: (based on MORTH Rev. 5, 2013 and IRC 37,

2012
1.Wearing course: SDBC shall not be used as per MORTH Rev.V
2013
2.Thickness of Bituminous base shall not be less than 50mm

Clarifications: (based on MORTH Rev. 5, 2013

and IRC 37, 2012)
1.Wearing course: SDBC shall not be used as per MORTH Rev.V
2013
2.Thickness of Bituminous base shall not be less than 50mm
3.BC shall be used in 30mm, 40mm, 50mm based on the design
requirement
2 to 5 msa

: 30 BC

5 to 10 msa

: 30 /40 BC

10 to 100 msa
>100 msa

: 40 BC
: 50 BC

4.Wherever 30mm BC is provided instead of 25mm SDBC, 5mm

shall be reduced in DBM thickness provided the thickness of

Clarifications: (based on MORTH Rev. 5, 2013

and IRC 37, 2012)
5. For widening / formation / strengthening using CBR
method, BM shall not be used.
6. Interpolation

of

layer

thickness

from

the

design

catalogue is not permitted

7. For all the design IITPAVE software should be run and
output should be enclosed
8. For new formation/ rebuilding GSB shall be laid in two
layers
1. Filter layer at bottom
2. Drainage layer at top
9. CBR of select subgrade shall be 8 or more

PAVEMENT DESIGN PROCEDURE

Using IITPAVE

Critical locations in pavement

31

Design approach and criteria

Vertical

compressive strain at the top of

the sub-grade
Horizontal compressive strain at the
bottom of the bituminous layer
Permanent deformation with in
bituminous layers

32

PRINCIPLES OF PAVEMENT DESIGN

CRITICAL PARAMETERS FOR PAVEMENT DESIGN

Tensile strain, t, at the bottom of the bituminous layer and
The vertical subgrade strain, v, on the top of the subgrade
to limit cracking and rutting in the bituminous layers and
non-bituminous layers respectively.

6.2.2 Fatigue Model

Nf = 2.21 * 10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/MR]0.854
(80 per cent reliability)
Nf = 0.711 * 10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/MR]0.854
(90 per cent reliability)
Where,
Nf = fatigue life in number of standard axles,
t = Maximum Tensile strain at the bottom of
the bituminous layer, and
MR = resilient modulus of the bituminous layer.

6.3.2 Rutting model

N = 4.1656 x 10-08 [1/v] 4.5337
(80 per cent reliability)
N = 1.41x 10-8x [1/v] 4.5337
(90 per cent reliability)
Where,
N = Number of cumulative standard axles, and
v = Vertical strain in the subgrade

Design procedure
1)Find design Traffic (MSA) as per existing procedure
with growth rate

of 5% and LDF for two lane

undivided carriageway as 0.50

2)Using CBR arrive at the tentative

design layer

thickness from catalogue

3)Calculation resilient modulus (MR) by
a. using equation 5.2 for sub-grade
b. using equation 7.1 for sub-base and base
c. using table 7.1 for bituminous mixes for the
relevant pavement temperature

Design procedure
4) Calculate allowable tensile strain ( t) at
the bottom of bituminous layer using
equations in 6.1 or 6.2
5) Calculate allowable vertical strain ( v)
using equation 6.4 or 6.5
6) Using IITPAVE calculate the actual tensile
strain

and

vertical

strain

and

check

whether the values are within allowable

values as calculated in 4) and 5)

Design procedure How to use IIT Pave

1)Input value for calculation of tensile strain and
vertical strain using IITPAVE

Poissons ratio shall be 0.35 for granular layers

The Poissons ratio of bituminous layer is 0.35

for temperature up to 35C and is 0.50 for
higher temperatures.

While using IITPAVE, the layer properties shall

be entered in the order from top bituminous
layer to bottom subgrade layer .

Wheel load shall be 20500 N and type pressure

shall be entered as 0.56 (Mpa)