Pavement Design

CE 453 Lecture 28

1
Objectives
Understand and complete ESAL
calculation
Know variables involved in and be
able to calculate required thickness
of rigid and flexible pavements

2
AASHTO Pavement Design
Method Considerations

Pavement Performance
Traffic
Roadbed Soil
Materials of Construction
Environment
Drainage
Reliability
Life-Cycle Costs
Shoulder Design
3
 Two Categories of Roadway Pavements

Rigid Pavement
Flexible Pavement

Rigid Pavement Typical Applications

High volume traffic lanes

Freeway to freeway connections

Exit ramps with heavy traffic

4
 Advantages of Rigid Pavement

Good durability
Long service life
Withstand repeated flooding and
subsurface water without deterioration

5
 Disadvantages of Rigid Pavement

May lose non-skid surface with time

Needs even sub-grade with uniform
settling
May fault at transverse joints
Requires frequent joint maintenance

6
Flexible Pavement Typical
Applications
Traffic lanes
Auxiliary lanes
Ramps
Parking areas
Frontage roads
Shoulders

7
 Advantages to Flexible Pavement

Adjusts to limited differential

settlement
Easily repaired
Additional thickness added any time
Non-skid properties do not deteriorate
Quieter and smoother
Tolerates a greater range of
temperatures
8
 Disadvantages of Flexible Pavement

Loses some flexibility and cohesion with

time
Needs resurfacing sooner than PC
concrete
Not normally chosen where water is
expected

9
Basic AASHTO Flexible
Pavement Design Method

Determine the desired terminal

serviceability, pt
Convert traffic volumes to number of
equivalent 18-kip single axle loads (ESAL)
Determine the structural number, SN
Determine the layer coefficients, ai
Solve layer thickness equations for
individual layer thickness
10
Basic AASHTO Rigid Pavement
Design Method

Select terminal serviceability

Determine number of ESALs
Determine the modulus of sub-grade
reaction
Determine the slab thickness

11
Variables included in
Nomographs
Reliability, R
Incorporates a degree of certainty into
design process
Ensures various design alternatives will
last the analysis period
Resilient Modulus for Roadbed Soil,
MR
Generally obtained from laboratory
testing
12
Variables included in
Nomographs
Effective Modulus of Sub-Grade Reaction,
k
Considers:
1. Sub-base type
2. Sub-base thickness
3. Loss of support
4. Depth to rigid foundation
Drainage Coefficient, mi
Use in layer thickness determination
Applies only to base and sub-base
See Tables 20.15 (flexible) and 21.9 (rigid)
13
14
15
Other Growth Rates
Multiple payment compound amount
factor, with i = growth rate
G = [(1+i)n-1]/i

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Flexible Pavement Design
Pavement structure is a multi-layered elastic
system, material is characterized by certain
properties
Modulus of elasticity
Resilient modulus
Poisson ratio
Wheel load causes stress distribution (fig 20.2)
Horizontal: tensile or compressive
Vertical: maximum are compressive, decrease with
depth
Temperature distribution: affects magnitude of
stresses
27
Components

Sub-grade (roadbed) course: natural material that

serves as the foundation of the pavement structure
Sub-base course: above the sub-grade, superior to
sub-grade course
Base course: above the sub base, granular materials
such as crushed stone, crushed or uncrushed slag,
gravel, and sand
Surface course: upper course of the road pavement,
should withstand tire pressures, resistant to abrasive 28
forces of traffic, provide skid-resistant driving
Economic Analysis

Different treatments results in

different designs
Evaluate cost of different
alternatives

29
Sensitivity Analysis

Input different values of traffic

volume
Compare resulting differences in
pavement
Fairly significant differences in ADT
do not yield equally significant
differences in pavement thickness

30
OTHER ISSUES
Drainage
Joints
Grooving (noise vs. hydroplaning)
Rumble strips
Climate
Level and type of usage

31
FAILURE EXAMPLES
Primarily related to design or life-
cycle, not construction
All images from Distress
Identification Manual for the Long-
Term Pavement Performance
Program, Publication No. FHWA-RD-
03-031, June 2003

32
FATIGUE CRACKING

33
RUTTING

34
SHOVING

35
PUMPING

36
EXAMPLES

http://training.ce.washington.edu
/wsdot/modules/09_pavement_evalua
tion/09-7_body.htm
http://training.ce.washington.edu
/wsdot/modules/09_pavement_evalua
tion/09-8_body.htm

37