Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Principles of Pavement Design

Dr. K. Sudhakar Reddy

Professor, Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
India
Email: ksreddy@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in
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Pavement Design Philosophy

Pavement
• is a structure that carries vehicular loading
• not to be confused with the footpaths / walkways
used by pedestrians
• built over a prepared foundation / subgrade
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Pavement Components

Pavement
Prepared foundation (Subgrade)

Foundation
in Cut or Fill
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Facilities where pavements are provided

Airport Pavements

Haul Loads, Loading Yards, Bus Terminals

Highway Pavements
Low Volume Roads
Main carriageways of Major Highways
Shoulders of Major Highways
Service Roads
Intersection areas
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Pavement Type
Depending on the importance of the pavement,
loading carried etc, the following categories of
pavements are normally provided

• Unsurfaced roads (earth, gravel, moorum)

• Surfaced (Bituminous surfacing, concrete)
• Unconventional pavements (block pavements,
shell filled concrete pavements)
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Pavement Types – Bituminous Pavement

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Pavement Types – Concrete Pavement
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Pavement Types – Block Pavement

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Pavement Type - Shell Filled Concrete
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Flexible Vs Rigid Pavements

Flexible
Earth
Gravel
Bituminous
Rigid
Concrete
Plain & Reinforced
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Flexible

Rigid
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Should Pavements be Designed ?

• Pavements, unlike several other structures, do not

fail spectacularly

• Pavement failures are not catastrophic in nature

• Bad roads can be a cause for serious economic

loss as well as loss of several lives
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Pavement Design – A Challenging Task
• Pavement design is a very
challenging task compared to designing
any other structure

• Complex loading conditions

• Complex material behaviour

• Difficulty in collecting information on

and modeling the performance
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Design Parameters
• Pavement Type
• Number of Layers
• Layer Material
• Layer Thickness
• Joint Spacing and Reinforcement details in
case of Concrete Pavements
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Selection of Design Parameters

Three main external parameters are
considered for selection of design inputs

Subgrade Strength

Traffic Loading

Climatic Conditions
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External Parameters Influencing Design

Subgrade

embankment / Cutting

soil type

strength

drainage characteristics
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Vehicular Loading

• Numbers / Volumes

• Vehicle Type

• Loads carried

• Vehicular speeds (stationary, slow

moving, fast moving)
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Climatic Parameters
Rainfall
Total
Seasonal Distribution

Temperature
Maximum Temperatures
Minimum Temperatures
Daily Variations
Seasonal Variations
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Design
For any facility, design is the process of
selecting appropriate values for design
parameters in such a way that the
facility performs in a
satisfactory/acceptable manner

The key words in Design process are

Design variables
Performance
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Design Variables

• Pavement Type
• Number of Layers
• Layer Material
• Layer Thickness
• Joint Spacing and Reinforcement details in case
of Concrete Pavements
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Performance
• All facilities must be designed to perform
• over a specified period of time (design life /
service life)
• How to define Pavement Performance?
• How to Quantify / Measure Performance ?
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Definition of Pavement Performance

Functional Performance
Structural Performance

Functional Performance
The function of a Pavement is to provide
Comfortable, safe and economical Ride
Road user is concerned about the functional
performance of the pavement
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Functional performance of a pavement

depends mostly on the surface characteristics

Surface Characteristics

Variation in Longitudinal Profile

Variation in Transverse Profile

Pot Holes, Cracks, Patching, Rutting, Loss of

Aggregates, etc
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Variation in Longitudinal Profile

Variation in C/S Profile

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Functional Performance
• Riding Comfort, Safety and Economy – function
of surface characteristics

• Functional Failure – when the pavements fail to

provide the expected functional performance

• It is desirable to ensure that the surface

characteristics are maintained within acceptable
limits during the service life of the road pavement

• How easy will it be to design pavements to ensure

this (functional performance)?
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Structural Failure/Performance

Most of the distresses / defects observed on

pavement surfaces are caused by repeated
application of traffic loads

Some are caused by non-load associated factors

like
Temperature, moisture
poor quality materials
Improper construction practices
Inadequate Maintenance
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Structural Failure/Performance
• If a pavement shows load associated
distress (fracture, permanent deformation,
etc), then it is considered to have failed
structurally
• Structural Performance – Demonstration of
structural adequacy
• Common forms of Structural Failures –
Fracture, permanent deformation
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Pavement Failures - Cracking

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Pavement Failures - Rutting

Rutting
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Pavement Failures - Bleeding

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Failures – Cracking in Concrete Pavement

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Mud Pumping in Concrete Pavement

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Blowup in Concrete Pavement

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What to Design Pavements for ?

For Acceptable Functional Performance ?
OR
Acceptable Structural Performance ?
• For a Road User – Functional Performance
• For a Designer – Structural Performance
• A road designed to give adequate structural
performance can be expected to give
satisfactory functional performance as well
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Different Design Approaches
• Different agencies adopt different approaches for
design of pavements
• Usually developed on the basis of observed
performance of pavements
• The observed performance is correlated to one or
more design parameters
• The relationship developed between the
performance of pavements and design
parameters is referred to as Performance
Criterion
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Performance Criteria
• explain the relationship between Performance
and Design Parameters
• Usually one or more criteria are used for design
• Depending on the design parameters selected
and the manner in which the relationship is
described, the performance criteria are classified
as
Empirical criteria
Mechanistic-Empirical Criteria
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Empirical Criteria/Empirical Design

• Performance of pavement is correlated to some
simple parameter like subgrade soil index, CBR
value, etc.
• Experience performance (expected service life)
correlated to pavement design parameters
(typically subgrade strength, thicknesses, etc) by
statistical means
• The relationship does not explain the
fundamental mechanistic behaviour of different
materials used in the pavement
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Empirical Criteria/Empirical Design

Empirical methods cannot be extrapolated with

confidence beyond the range of experience

May not work for new materials, new climatic

conditions, new traffic conditions
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Mechanistic – Empirical Performance

Criteria/Design

• Explain different phenomena (stresses, strains,

deflections) occurring in the pavement with
reference to physical causes (loads, material
properties)
• The relationship between the phenomena and
the physical causes is explained using a
mathematical model
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Mechanistic – Empirical Performance

Criteria/Design
• The mechanistic approach is integrated with
empirical approach in the selection of limiting
values of stresses, strains and deflections that
cause failure of pavements
• The relationship between the phenomena
stress, strain, deflection) and the failure is
explained by empirically obtained relationships
which estimate number of load repetitions to
failure.
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Mechanistic Criteria - Advantages

• Can handle various loading types, new

materials
• Contribution of different material components
is better understood and thus optimal
utilization is possible
• More reliable
• Also called Analytical/ Rational Methods
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Performance Criterion is the heart of the

pavement design approach
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Performance Criterion has to be

developed from sufficient data on the
performance of in-service pavements.

Pavement designs done on the basis of

any performance criterion are only as
reliable as the criterion is
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Performance data is obtained by

• Long term monitoring of in-service pavements

• Accelerated testing of pavements
• Laboratory testing of model pavements or
pavement materials
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It is often mistakenly believed by many that

only empirical procedures require data on past
experience and that mechanistic approach is
designing pavements purely on the basis of
theoretical calculations only.

All design approaches must be based on

sufficient experience. Experience
(performance) explained in terms of
mechanistic principles leads to pseudo or
empirical-mechanistic designs (often termed
as Rational methods)
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Some Important Performance Studies

• WASHO Road Test

• AASHO Road Test
• Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP)

• Research Scheme R-6 of MORTH

• Research Scheme R-56 of MORTH
• Research Scheme R-81 of MORTH
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Design Strategies

• Pavement Design is not an exact process.

• For any given situation, no two designers are
expected to come up with exactly the same
solution.
• Several alternative solutions in terms of the
type of pavement, materials used and the
combination of new construction, rehabilitation
and maintenance.
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Design Strategies

Pavements can be designed to serve for long

periods without any maintenance (without any
inconvenience to users)

Alternatively, pavements can be built with low

initial cost and be provided with maintenance at
regular intervals
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Design Strategies
• Design process is a trade-off between the
inconvenience to the user caused by frequent
maintenance and the high initial cost.
• Such decisions are now-a-days taken on the basis
of rigorous economic analysis of alternative
solutions.
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Design Frame work

• Traffic Loading Consideration

• Environmental Factors
• Material Characterization
• Analysis of Pavements
• Designs based on selected performance criteria