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1.0 INTRODUCTION
The study conducted for flexible pavement on the Summerlin Subdivision has been
accomplished. The developed area is located in the intersection of Railroad Drive and
Angora Loop Street in northeast El Paso, Texas.
2.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The area to be covered with flexible pavement at the Summerlin Subdivision is
approximately 13,200 lineal feet. The scope of this study is to give the parameters needed
for the flexible pavement design that will be used in the area above mentioned.
3.0 ENGINEERING INVESTIGATION
3.1 Field Exploration
Fourteen soil borings were drilled in the planned section for paving. The ASTM D 6151
and D 1586 were followed for drilling using a truck-mounted CME-55 rig. The rig drilled
to a depth of approximately 6.5 feet at regular intervals along what is going to be the
street. See the attached appendix for further reference of the logs that belong to each
boring hole. The soils samples obtained were properly labeled and placed in containers
and tested in the laboratory.
3.2 Geotechnical Laboratory Testing
Once in the laboratory, the samples were tested in order to obtain their mositure content,
the size of the soils particles by doing sieve analysis and the Atterberg Limits. Along
with the tests mentioned above, four California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were
performed using ASTM D 1883. The CBR value is needed for the AASHTO pavement
design calculations.
4.0 GENERAL SITE CONDITIONS
4.1 Area Geology
The area where the Summerlin Subdivision is going to be constructed lies on the
Northeast of El Paso, Texas. The soil in this section is made up of fine sand and caliche.
4.2 Site Topography
The section has been developed for construction similar to the surroundings where there
are commercial and residential lots. The area is mostly arid.

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4.3 Soil Stratigraphy

The area is composed by dry fine grained clayey sand. Undulating calcareous surface
located in the range of 1.5 to 3.5 feet below the ground surface. According to the
Atterberg Limits and using the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), the soils are
classified as SC.
4.4 Groundwater
Even though the develepment area is located above the Hueco Bolson, there is no
groundwater oscilating problem.
5.0 ENGINEERING EVALUATION
5.1 Flexible Pavement
After following procedures set forth by the 1993 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design
Guide and following the City of El Pasos municipal code and TxDOT recommendations,
the minimum pavement section for a Residential Sub-Collector (20 year design life) with
an EAL of 269,000 and a CBR value of 4 is as follows:
For street sections:
Aster Ct ., Blue Sage Circle, Canyon Sage Drive, Datil
Drive, Farah Drive, Faxon Drive, Firebush Drive, Red Oak Ct., Shrub
Oak Drive, Silvercloud Drive, Sunny Drive, Texas Oak Drive, Torrey
Drive
Min.
Depth

Unit

Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete

Crushed Stone Base
Course

2.0

inches

5.5

inches

Fill Material (compacted)

8.0

inches

Layer

5.2 Crushed Stone Base Course

The material used for the crushed stone base course (CSBC) should be Item 247 as
recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and be considered a
Grade A, Type 3 material.
5.3 Structural Fill

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Based on the clayey sands soils potential for shrinking and swelling, we recommend that
these soils not be used as support of the base course component for the pavement
sections. Removal of the underlying soils should be achieved and replaced with a
minimum of 8.0 inches of an adequate structural fill material. Soils recommended as
structural fill should be classified according to the Unified Soil Classification System and
are as follows:
GM, GC, GW-GC, GW-GM, GP, GP-GM, GP-GC, SM, SC, SW-SM, SW-SC, SP-SM,
SW-SC, and SC-SM.
Soils not recommended as structural fill material are those with a liquid limit exceeding
35 and a plasticity index that exceeds 15. Compaction of the material should be done
with approved types of pneumatics or tamping equipment that agree with Item 210 from
TxDOT.
5.4 Site Preparation
All organic matter such as vegetation should be removed before construction of pavement
sections is begun. Subgrade soils should be compacted to a minimum of 95% of dry unit
weight in accordance with ASTM D1557 test procedure.
5.5 Site Drainage
Surface drainage should be provided during and after construction by providing a ground
surface slope of 2 percent grade (minimum) away from the pavement structure.

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Calculations
Procedure:
The steps in the 1993 AASHTO flexible pavement design procedure combined with the
City of El Paso Subdivision Improvement Design Standards are summarized below in the
context of the baseline scenario presented by LEC:
1.

Determine the analysis period.

For the design scenario, a 20-year design life is specified.

2.

Evaluate the design traffic:

Street Classification: Residential Sub-Collector
From recommendations from the City of El Paso,
W18 =269,000 EALs.

3.

Determine the design reliability factors:

Reliability = 80% (local urban traffic),
ZR = standard normal deviate = -0.841,
S0 = standard deviation = 0.45.

4.

Determine the allowable serviceability loss due to traffic: PSI = 2.2 given by
equation:
PSI = pt po=4.22.0=2.2
5.1

5.

Evaluate the seasonally averaged subgrade resilient modulus MR using the

formula:
MR = 2555*(CBR) 0.64
5.2
MR = 6204.5 psi.

6.

Determine the layer properties:

Structural layer coefficients ai for all bound layers. Recommendations for
appropriate ai values for design are given by 1993 AASHTO Design Guide.
Values for design:
a1 = 0.44, a2 = 0.14, and a3=0.11
Drainage coefficients mi for all unbound layers are set to 1.0

7.

From nomographs provided by the Subdivision Improvement Design Standards

from the City of El Paso, the Soil Support Value (S) is equal to 4.3, and hence the
Structural Number (SN) is equal to 2.4

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Also,
Solving Equation:

5.3
for the required overall structural number (SN): SN = 2.71.
Therefore, use SN=2.5
8.

Determine the design layer thicknesses for the pavement section to apply to
equation:

5.4

From the City of El Paso guidelines, minimum HMA section (wearing

surface) should not be less than 1.5 inches.

Therefore, D1 is equal to 2.0 inches.

From the City of El Paso and TxDOT guidelines, recommended base

range 4-10 inches,

Therefore D2 is equal to 5.5 inches

Solving equation 5.4 for subbase layer:
2.5= .44(2.0) + 0.14(5.5) + 0.11(D3)
D3 = 7.73 inches
Use D3 = 8.0 inches for construction.1
1After

rounding to the nearest half-inch, per the recommendations in the 1993 AASHTO Design Guide.
Unbound layer thicknesses are rounded to the nearest inch.