EAL 337: Pavement Engineering

Flexible Pavement Design

[AASHTO Method]
DR. MOHD ROSLI MOHD HASAN
AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design Method

Development:
American Association of State
Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO)
Based on outcome from AASHO
road test
Late 50s road test track in Illinois
 Design Considerations

A. Pavement performance
B. Traffic
C. Roadbed soils (subgrade material)
D. Materials of construction No
E. Environment variety
F. Drainage
G. Reliability
A. Pavement performance
Serviceability performance serviceability index (PSI)
PSI range from 0 to 5, where 0 is the lowest and 5 is
the highest

Serviceability indices:
Initial serviceability (serviceability index immediately
after the construction pavement), pi
Terminal serviceability index (minimum acceptable
value before resurfacing or reconstruction is
necessary), pt
AASTHO recommend pi = 4.5 for flexible pavement and
pt = 2.5 or 3.0 for major highways and pt = 2.0 for
highways with lower classification.
B. Traffic
Primary functions of a pavement is load distribution
Traffic load application is given in terms of
Equivalent single axle loads (ESALs)
ESAL is a concept developed from data collected at
the AASHO Road Test
To establish a damage relationship for comparing
the effects of axles carrying different loads. The
reference axle load is an 18,000-lb. single axle with
dual tires.
C. Roadbed soils
Based on the resilient modulus or modulus of
elasticity (Mr) of the soil to define its
property.
Mr defined as a measure of the elastic
property of soil recognizing certain non-
linear characteristics.
Resilient modulus strength
For subgrade material, Mr = 1500 CBR
D. Materials of construction
Materials for subbase, base and surface
(same subgrade: test track in Illinois)
Quality of material used is determined
in terms of layer coefficient, ai which is
used to convert the actual thickness to
an equivalent SN.
E. Environment
Temperature and rainfall are the two
main environmental factors
(same environment: test track in Illinois)
F. Drainage
Take into consideration the effect of water on the
strength of base material and roadbed soil.
Modification of structural layer coefficient by
incorporating a factor, mi for the base and subbase
layer coefficients (a2 and a3).
The mi factors are based on both the % of time during
which the pavement structure will be nearly saturated
and the quality of drainage which is dependent on the
time it takes to drain the base layer to 50% of
saturation.
 Definition of Drainage Quality
Quality of Drainage Water Removed Within (Time required to drain the
base layer to 50% saturation)
Excellent 2 hours
Good 1 day
Fair 1 week
Poor 1 month
Very poor (water will not drain)

Recommended mi values
% of time pavement structure is exposed to moisture levels
Quality of approaching saturation
Drainage Less than 1% 1 5% 5 25% Greater than
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
G. Reliability
Reliability factor to consider the possible
uncertainties in traffic prediction and
performance prediction.
Overall variation, So2 have also been
developed to account for the chance
variation in traffic forecast and the chance
variation in actual pavement performance.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
To determine a flexible pavement SN adequate to carry the
projected ESAL.

SN = a1D1 + a2D2m2 + a3D3m3

Where:
mi = drainage coefficient
a1, a2, a3 = layer coefficients representative of
surface, base and subbase course
respectively
D1, D2, D3 = actual thickness in inches of surface, base
and subbase courses respectively
 AASHTO-Recommended Minimum Thickness of Highway Layers
Minimum Thickness (inch)
Traffic ESALs
Asphalt Concrete Aggregate Base
Less than 50,000 1.0 (or surface treatment) 4
50,001 150,000 2.0 4
150,001 500,000 2.5 4
500,001 2,000,000 3.0 6
2,000,001 7,000,000 3.5 6
Greater than 7,000,000 4.0 6
Example Calculation