HIGHWAY

PAVEMENT
NOTES 4 AND 5 :
THICKNESS DESIGN ON FLEXIBLE
PAVEMENT WITH AASHTO 1993 METHOD

LAYOUT

History of AASHTO Method

Design Curves and Equation of AASHTO Method
Input of Design Parameter
Procedure of Thickness Design
Examples

NOW WE GO TO

History of AASHTO Method

Design Curves and Equation of AASHTO Method
Input of Design Parameter
Procedure of Thickness Design
Examples

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

AASHO Road Test the first full-scale road test was

documented in AASHO Interim Guide for the Design of
Rigid and Flexible Pavements (1961)
The development of AASHO 1961 -- AASHTO Interim
Guide for Design of Pavement Structures 1972. This
edition was revised in 1981 by adding chapter III (design of
rigid pavement)

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

Major revision of AASHTO 1972 (1981) in AASHTO Design

Guide for Design of Pavement Structure, 1986 are as follows:
Parameter

AASHTO 1972

AASHTO 1986

1. Subgrade
Bearing Capacity

Relationship
between Soil
Support (S) and
California Bearing
Ratio (CBR)

Represented by resilient
modulus (MR) and measured
using AASHTO T274 or
relationship with CBR

2. Parameter for
location/
environmental
variation

Regional Factor

Reliability (R), Standard

deviation (So) and drainage
coefficient (m)

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

Parameter
3. Structural
Number (SN)

AASHTO 1972
SN = a1D1 + a2D2 +
a3D3

AASHTO 1986
SN = a1D1 + a2D2m2 + a3D3m3

4. Difference in design chart

5. Road maintenance program was additional part in AASHTO 1986

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

Another revision of AASHTO method was issued in 1993. The

differences between AASHTO 1986 and AASHTO 1993 :

AASHTO 1986 comprises of 2 volume: volume 1 contains of basic

guidelines for road construction, and volume 2 contains of
appendices about documentation and detail explanation of volume
1.
On the other hand, AASHTO 1993 only comprises of 1 volume,
with additional of procedure of overlay design. However, volume 2
of AASHTO 1986 is applicable for AASHTO 1993.

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

The latest version: AASHTO 2002, or AASHTO MEPDG

(Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide).
Additional features of AASHTO 2002:

Enable to accommodate new axle load the use of axle load

which is not available during AASHO road test
Enable to accommodate new material it is not necessary to
extrapolate the coefficient of relative strength of a material (a)
It can be used for both new construction and maintenance
programs better in modeling the pavement system using
non-destructive method.

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

Non-destructive test (static) AASHTO 1993

Benkelman Beam (BB)

Only can measure deflection on pavement surface (maximum
deflection)

HISTORY OF AASHTO METHOD

Non-destructive test (impact) AASHTO 2002

Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD)

Enable to measure deflections up to subgrade
FWD video clip

NOW WE GO TO

History of AASHTO Method

Design Curves and Equation of AASHTO Method
Input of Design Parameter
Procedure of Thickness Design
Examples

DESIGN CURVE AND EQUATION

OF AASHTO 1993

AASHTO 1993 Design Equation

1

4
logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20
2

PSI 5
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
0.40
6
(SN 1)5.19

If you are interested in deriving of AASHTO 1993 design

equation, please refer to Huang Pavement Analysis and
Design, 2nd edition, pp. 510-511

DESIGN CURVE AND EQUATION

OF AASHTO 1993

AASHTO 1993 Design Curve (please notice the six inputs)

So
W18

MR
PSI
SN

DESIGN CURVE AND EQUATION

OF AASHTO 1993

Typical of empirical method:

There are upper and lower bound of parameter inputs

It is possible to do interpolation (the results could be
inaccurate), but extrapolation is not advisable.

NOW WE GO TO

History of AASHTO Method

Design Curves and Equation of AASHTO Method
Input of Design Parameter
Procedure of Thickness Design
Examples

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

The following design parameters are necessary to be

determined before AASHTO design curve or design equation
could be used.

Time limit: design period, service life

Traffic load and growth rate
Reliability (R) and standard deviation (So)
Environmental condition
Road performance serviceability index
Subgrade bearing capacity
Drainage factor
Road material

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

The design parameters in AASHTO 1993:

Time limit, traffic load and growth rate W18

Reliability and standard deviation Zr and So

Environmental condition, road performance, drainage factor

PSI
Subgrade bearing capacity MR

Road material SN

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Time limit: design period and service life

Design period service life

At the end of service life, roads require treatment programs, such
as maintenance, rehabilitation, overlay, or reconstruction

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

From AASHTO 1993 design equation

PSI
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
0.40
(SN 1)5.19
1

First parameter input: W18

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Traffic load and growth rate

Average Daily Traffic (ADT) and vehicle composition are used to

determine traffic load in ESAL (equivalent standard axle load). A
load of 8,16 ton (18 kips) is used as standard load.
W18

= { LHRi x Ei x GR} x 365

(on design line)

W18

= DD x DL x W18

(for two ways)

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Traffic load and growth rate

DD directional distribution factor, 1 way 1; 2 ways 0,5

DL lane distribution factor (if there are more than 1 lane) in

carriageway, 1 lane 100%; 2 lanes 80 100%, etc.
E load equivalency factor (LEF) for certain vehicle (depends on
pt, axle load, axle type, SN) (see Table D.1 D.9)

GR - annual growth rate (depends on traffic growth rate, g)

GR = { (1 + g)n 1} / g

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

From AASHTO 1993 design equation

PSI 2
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
0.40
(SN 1)5.19
1

Second parameter input: PSI

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Road performance and environmental condition

Road performance = the ability of road structure to withstand

against traffic load and environmental effects and denotes as PSI
(present serviceability index)
PSI = PSItraffic + PSISW, FH
PSItraffic = serviceability loss because of traffic load = IPo - IPt
(difference between initial and terminal serviceability
index)
IPo 4,2 (AASHO road test),
IPt = 2,5 - 3,0 (major highway); IPt = 2 (minor highway)

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Road performance and environmental condition

PSISW, FH = serviceability loss because of soil swelling (effect of
moisture and frost) (see Table G.1, Fig. G.2 G.4)
PSISW = 0,00335 . VR . PS . (1 e-t)
=
VR =
PS =

swell rate constant = f(moisture supply, soil fabric)

maximum potential heave = f(plasticity index, compaction,
thickness)
swelling probability

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

From AASHTO 1993 design equation

1

4
logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20
3

PSI 2
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
0.40
(SN 1)5.19

Third and forth parameters: Zr and S0

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Reliability (R) and Standard Deviation (So)

Reliability is a probability of a sufficient serviceability level could

be maintained during service life, based on road users point of
view.
Functional
Classification

Recommended Level of Reliability, R (%)

Urban

Rural

85 99.9

80 99.9

Arterial road

80 99

75 95

Collector road

80 95

75 - 95

Local road

50 80

50 - 80

Toll road

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Reliability (R) and Standard Deviation (So)

R value correlates with standard normal deviate (ZR) as shown

below.
Reliability (%)
Normal Deviate
Reliability (%) Normal Deviate
(Zr)
(Zr)

50

-0.000

90

-1.282

60

-0.253

95

-1.645

70

-0.524

98

-2.054

75

-0.674

99

-2.327

80

-0.841

99.9

-3.090

85

-1.037

99.99

-3.750

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Overall standard deviation (So)

Overall standard deviation is a combination of standard error of

traffic prediction and road performance. This variable measures
how far the probability of traffic prediction and road performance
deviate from the design. For instance, it is predicted that the
number of traffic is 2.000.000 ESAL for the next 20 year,
however, in fact, there are 2.500.000 vehicles in that period.
The larger the deviation is, the higher the value of So will be.

For flexible pavement, the value of So is 0,35 0,40

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

From AASHTO 1993 design equation

1

4
logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20
3

Fifth input parameter: MR

PSI 2
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
0.40
5
(SN 1)5.19

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Subgrade bearing capacity

Represented by resilient modulus (MR)

It could be measured according to AASHTO T 274 or based on

relationship with other parameter, such as California Bearing Ratio
(CBR).
MR (psi) = 1500 x CBR

MR measurement should be conducted routinely during a year to

observe the relative damage on subgrade due to moisture effect

(see Fig 2.3).

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Drainage condition

The aim: to evaluate the capability of the pavement in removing

moisture.
5 categories of quality of drainage corresponding to how long the
moisture remove from the pavement.
Excellent (2 hour), Good (1 day), fair (1 week), poor (1 month), very
poor (water will not drain)

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Drainage condition - drainage coefficient

Quality of
drainage

Percentage of time pavement structure is exposed to moisture levels

approaching saturation *)
< 1%

1 5%

5 25%

> 25%

Excellent

1.40 1.35

1.35 1.30

1.30 1.20

1.20

Good

1.35 1.25

1.25 1.15

1.15 1.00

1.00

Fair

1.25 1.15

1.15 1.05

1.00 0.80

0.80

Poor

1.15 1.05

1.05 0.80

0.80 0.60

0.60

Very poor

1.05 0.95

0.95 0.75

0.75 0.40

0.40

Remarks: *) depends on annual average rainfall and drainage

condition at the road structure.

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

From AASHTO 1993 design equation

PSI 2
4
log

4
.
2

1
.
5

logW18 Zr (So ) 9.36log(SN 1) 0.20

2.32logMR 8.07
1094
6
0.40
3
5
(SN 1)5.19
1

Last input parameter: SN

INPUT OF DESIGN
PARAMETER

Road material

The quality of road materials are represented by parameter a

(coefficient of relative strength), that is, the capability of the material
to function as component of road structure to withstand against
traffic load.
Generally, the value of a is determined using correlation with
other properties of road materials, such as: MR, CBR, R-value, and
so on (see Fig. 2.5 2.9)
Coefficient of relative strength is used to calculate the thickness of
each layer of road pavement (after SN is known).

END OF PRESENTATION

Thank you for your attention.