COMPONENTS OF A ROAD

SUB GRADE
SUB BASE
BASE
BITUMINOUS LAYERS

THREE LAYERED PAVEMENT

SYSTEM
Pavement A Three
layered System

Granular Base
Bituminous surface
Granular Subbase

GL

Embankment

Side Drain

GL

SUB GRADE
The sub grade is the prepared and compacted soil layer forming
the foundation of the pavement system. The top 500mm
thickness of an embankment is considered as sub grade.

SUB BASE
The Sub base is the layer between the sub grade and the
Base. The sub base may consist of one or more layers of
stabilized or granular materials properly compacted

BASE
This is a layer of granular material, which lies immediately
below the wearing surface.

SURFACING
It is the component of pavement with which the wheels of vehicle
comes into actual contact. The purpose is to provide smooth
riding surface.

STAGES OF QUALITY CONTROL

EMBANKMENT FORMATION
SUB GRADE FORMATION
GRANULAR SUB BASE
BASE

EMBANKMENT FORMATION
The materials used for the formation of embankment
should have
Liquid Limit
< 70
Plasticity Index < 45
Free swell index < 50
The size of the coarse material shall not exceed
75mm
Compaction Requirement Not less than 95 Percentage
of maximum Laboratory dry density
Individual Layer thickness not to exceed 200mm
Any vegetation has to be thoroughly removed from the
fill material since the decay leads to voids formation

EMBANKMENT FORMATION
If the road is to be formed in water logged
areas proper embankment design shall be
obtained

SUB GRADE
Field density - Not less than 1.75 gm/cc
Size of the coarse material shall not
exceed 50mm
Compaction Requirement Not less than
97% of maximum Laboratory dry density
CBR Shall preferably be 7 10 %

GRANULAR SUB BASE

Liquid Limit - Not greater than 25
Plasticity Index Minimum CBR -

Non Plastic
20% up to 2 msa
- 30% traffic exceeding 2
msa
Compaction Requirement Not less than
98%of maximum Laboratory dry density

GRADATION REQUIREMENT FOR GRANULAR SUB

BASE GRADE I as per Table 400-1 of MORTH IV
IS Sieve Designation

Grading I

Grading
II

Grading
III

75.0 mm

100

53.0 mm

80 100

100

26.5

55 - 90

70 100

100

9.50mm

35 - 65

50 80

65 95

4.75 mm

25 - 55

40 65

50 80

2.36 mm

20 - 40

30 50

40 65

0.425 mm

10 -25

15 25

20 35

0.075 mm

3 -10

3 10

3 10

CBR Value (Minimum)

30

25

20

Granular Base
WET MIX MACADAM
IS sieve
size, mm

Percent by passing

53

100

45

95-100

22.4

60-80

11.2

40-60

4.75

25-40

2.36

15-30

600mic

8-22

75mic

0-8

Granular Base
WET MIX MACADAM
Minimum Thickness 75mm
Maximum single layer thickness 200mm,
if Vibratory Roller is used
Gradation as per Table 400-11 of MORTH
Revision IV

TESTS ON SOIL BELOW PAVEMENT

Atterberg Limits
Sieve Analysis
Maximum Dry Density
Optimum Moisture Content
California Bearing Ratio

TESTS ON SOIL
Field density
Sand Replacement method
Soil density guage
Sieve analysis
To classify the soil
To assess the bearing capacity of the soil
Maximum Dry Density
Maximum Dry Density and Optimum Moisture
Content is obtained from the Proctor Density
tests

FREQUENCY OF TESTS
GRANULAR SUB BASE as per Table 900-3
of MORTH revision - IV
Test

Frequency

Gradation

One test per 200 m3

Atterberg limits

One test per 200 m3

Moisture content
prior to compaction

One test per 250 m2

Density of compacted layer

One test per 500 m2

Deleterious Constituents

As required

C.B.R

As required

FREQUENCY OF TESTS
WET MIX MACADAM
as per Table 900-3 of MORTH Revision -IV
Test
Aggregate Impact value
Gradation
Flakiness and Elongation index
Atterberg limits of binding material
Atterberg limits of portion of
aggregate passing 425 micron
sieve

Frequency
One test per 200m3 of
aggregate
One test per 100m3 of
aggregate
One test 200m3 of Aggregate
One test per 25m3 of binding
material
One test per 100 cubic metre
of aggregate

FAILURE OF PAVEMENTS
as per IRC-82:1982
Surface Defects
Cracks
Deformation
Disintegration

SURFACE DEFECTS-Types &Causes

Fatty Surfaces - Accumulation of Bitumen - Due to
Excess of Bitumen,Fines,Poor Quality of Aggregates and
Heavy axle loads leading to deformation of wearing
surface.
Streaking Appearance of alternate thin and heavy
lines of Bitumen Due to non uniform application of
Bitumen, low temperature of Bitumen during mixing.
Hungry surface Loss of aggregates Due to less
bitumen in surfacing and poor quality of aggregates.

CRACKS

Types & Causes

Indication of defective pavement.

Hair-line crack- Due to insufficient Bitumen, Improper
compaction.
Alligator cracks- Due to excessive deflection, excessive
overloading on unstable sub base or sub grade and
brittleness of Bitumen due to ageing or overheating.
Longitudinal cracks- Appearing along the road at the
joint between pavement and shoulder and between two
paving lanes due to poor drainage and weak joints of
adjoining lanes.

CRACKS Types & Causes

contd..,

Edge cracks Due to lack of lateral support, settlement

of underlying layers and inadequate pavement width.

Shrinkage cracks Forming large blocks without

deformation-Due to shrinkage of bituminous layers with
age and loss of ductility.

Reflection cracks Frequently appear on bituminous

surfacing laid over concrete pavement joints and cracks
underneath. Also appear on bituminous surfacing on old
unrepaired defective bituminous layer.

DEFORMATION - Types & Causes

Change in the original shape of the pavement
Slippage Relative movement of surface layer with
reference to layer below Due to inadequate tack coat,
lack of bonding between surface layer and base and
unusual thrust of wheels in a particular direction.
Rutting Longitudinal depression along wheel track - Due
to repeated channelised traffic, inadequate compaction of
pavement layers and yielding of sub grade
Settlement and Upheaval Large deformation of
pavement due to inadequate compaction, excessive
moisture in sub grade inadequate pavement thickness.

DISINTEGRATION - Types & Causes

Stage that necessitates complete rebuilding of pavement.
Stripping Separation of Bitumen adhering from
surfaces of aggregates in presence of moisture Due to
inferior aggregates, Poor mix composition, Continuous
contact of water with bitumen coated aggregates, Initial
overheating of Bitumen prior to mixing, Presence of Dust
or moisture on aggregate prior to mixing, rain or storm
immediately after laying.
Loss of Aggregates Due to loss of adhesive property
of Bitumen, stripping of bitumen, insufficient binder, Poor
compaction, Loss of temperature in mix before
compaction.

MIX DESIGN OF GSB GRADE-I & WMM

Suitability of material for its physical properties
like Gradation, Impact value and Flakiness.
Optimisation of ratio of size
components,moisture,Density and strength.
Batching of aggregates based on their size.
Mixing of aggregates of different sizes at
various ratios and different moisture content to
find out CBR for each

GSB Grade I Mix Design Trial-1

Total Weight of Sample 9000 gms
Sieve size,
mm

Weight by
percentage

Moisture
content

Total weight
of mix

75-26.5

25

6937

26.5-9.5

20

7098

9.5-4.75

30

7408

4.75-0.075 25

CBR, %

34

GSB Grade I Mix Design Trial-2

Total Weight of Sample 9000 gms
Sieve size,
mm

Weight by Moisture
percentag content
e

Total
weight of
mix

75-26.5
26.5-9.5
9.5-4.75
4.750.075

20
15
35
30

6990
7220
7435

4
5
6

CBR, %

61

GSB Grade I Mix Design Trial-3

Total Weight of Sample 9000 gms
Sieve size,mm

Weight by
percentage

Moisture
content

Total weight
of mix

75-26.5

20

7180

26.5-9.5

25

7335

9.5-4.75

25

7165

CBR, %

61

4.75-0.075 30
Same procedure is adopted for WMM except the
upper sieve being 53mm.

Dos & Do nots for GSB and WMM

Dos
Gradation Test at collection stage.
Ensure material brought from the same quarry for which
design mix is obtained.
Correct proportion of components during mixing.
Loose volume of materials shall be 1.30-1.50 m3 of
compacted volume.
Field density test shall be done frequently to verify
compaction.
CBR tests on GSB mix shall be done during spreading to
confirm laboratory results.

Dos & Do nots for GSB and WMM

Donot
Add excess of water during mixing as this leads to
seggregation of materials.
Allow oversize material.
Allow flaky material as this leads to poor interlocking.
Compact total thickness in single layer as poor
compaction is achieved.

HIGHWAY DRAINAGE
Directly governs the performance of the pavement.
Classified as Surface and Sub surface drainage.
Surface drainage is effected by Longitudinal &
Transverse gradients.
Failure of surface drainage leads to stripping of Bitumen,
Potholes and slow deterioration of pavement.
When a road does not run on embankment or adjoining
ground is at higher level, where surface drainage cannot
be provided sub surface drainage is necessitated.
Vertical drains can be effective to drain surface water to
permeable sub strata at shallow depths.