Chapter one: Material for Road
Construction.
Road and Bridge
Construction II
Introduction
• The highway pavements system consist of flexible pavement) and rigid
pavements). In addition roads could be gravel and earth roads as low
volume roads.
• The type of road denotes the material used for construction of each
layer. Each pavement type is built up of layers, starting with the existing
subgrade with each successive layer utilizing better quality material.
• The most costly layers and the layers that are designed and constructed
to be the most durable layers are the surface layers—consisting of
Asphalt Concrete (AC) or Portland Concrete Cement (PCC).
• The generic composition of typical AC is as follows:
Asphalt binder—6 to 8 percent by volume.
Aggregate (graded)—85 to 90 percent by volume.
Filler material—2 to 3 percent by volume.
Air—2 to 4 percent by volume.
Cont..
• The generic composition of typical PCC is as follows:
Cementations materials (Portland cement, fly ash, slag)—10
to 14 percent by volume.
Aggregate (coarse, intermediate, fine)—62 to 68 percent by
volume.
Water—14 to 18 percent by volume.
Air—4 to 8 percent by volume.
Admixtures—very small amounts.
Cont..
• Transportation construction is closely related to design
and involves all aspects of the building process:-
• Beginning with clearing the native soil up to 20cm
• Preparation of the surface
• Placement of the pavement material, and
• Preparation of the final road for use by traffic
Overview of Pavement Structures
• A pavement structure is a layer structure which supports the
vehicle load on its surface and transfers and spreads the load to
the subgrade without exceeding either the strength of the subgrade
or the internal strength of the pavement itself.
• The basic idea in building a pavement for all-weather use by
vehicles is to prepare a suitable subgrade, provide necessary
drainage, and construct a pavement that will:
Have sufficient total thickness and internal strength to carry
expected traffic loads, and distribute them over the subgrade soil
without overstressing;
Have adequate properties to prevent or minimize the penetration or
internal accumulation of moisture; and
CONT..
• Have a surface that is reasonably smooth and skid resistant
at the same time, as well as reasonably resistant to wear,
distortion and deterioration by vehicle loads and weather.
• A flexible pavement is one, which has low flexural strength,
and the load is largely transmitted to the subgrade soil
through the lateral distribution of stresses with increasing.
• The pavement trickiness is designed such that the stresses
on the subgrade soil are kept within its bearing capacity and
the subgrade is prevented from excessive deformation. The
strength and smoothness of flexible pavement structure
depends to a large extent on the deformation of the subgrade
soil.
Cont..
• Generally, two types of construction have been used for
flexible pavements: conventional flexible pavement and
full-depth asphalt pavement. A third type, known as
contained rock asphalt mat (CRAM) construction is still in
the experimental stage and has not been widely accepted for
practical use.
• Conventional flexible pavements are multilayered structures
with better materials on top where the intensity of stress is
high and inferior material at bottom where intensity is low.
This design principle makes possible to use local materials
and usually results in a most economical design.
• The use of various courses is based on either necessity or
economy and some of the courses may be omitted.
Nature of pavement
1. flexible pavement
1.1 Conventional asphalt
Surface Course: the top course of an asphalt pavement. It is
constructed by dense graded hot-mix asphalt. It must be tough to
resist distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-
resistant riding surface &waterproof.
Base Course: the layer of material under the surface course. It
may unbounded or stabilized. It provides a level surface for laying
the surface layer. it prevents intrusions of the fine subgrade soils
into the pavement structure.
Cont..
Sub-base Course: the layer of material under the base course
constructed using local and cheaper materials for economic. It
facilitates drainage of free water.
Sub-grade: the foundation on which the vehicle load and the
weight of the pavement layers finally rest. It is an in situ or a
layer of selected material compacted to the desirable density
near the optimum moisture content. It is graded into a proper
shape, properly drained, and compacted to receive the
pavement layers.
Cont..
1.2 Full-Depth Asphalt Pavements
Full-depth asphalt pavements are constructed by placing one or
more layers of hot-mix asphalt directly on the sub-grade or
improved sub-grade.
This concept was conceived by the Asphalt Institute and is
generally considered the most cost-effective and dependable
type of asphalt pavement for heavy traffic and quite popular in
areas where local materials are not available.
2. Rigid Pavements
Rigid pavements are pavement structures constructed of cement
concrete slabs, which derive their capacity to withstand vehicle
loads from flexural strength or beam strength due to high modulus
of elasticity.
the performance of rigid pavements is governed by the strength of
the concrete slab than the sub-grade
The sub-grade may provide a uniform support for the slab
Cont..
Cont..
• Where The Sub-grade Soil Cannot Provide A Uniform
Support, Or For One Or More Of The Following Reasons
Described Here Under, There Is Always A Necessity To
Build A Base Course Under Cement Concrete Slab And It Is
Widely Used For Rigid Pavements.
Control Of Pumping.
Improvement Of Drainage.
Expedition Of Construction.
Control Of Shrinkage And Swell.
Control Of Frost Action.
Basic Component of Rigid Pavement
3.Composite Pavements
• Composite pavements are pavements composed of cement concrete as a
bottom layer and hot-mix asphalt as a top layer to obtain an ideal pavement
with the most desirable characteristics.
cement concrete slab: a strong base
hot-mix asphalt: a smooth and non reflective surface
very expensive and is rarely used as a new construction
Disadvantage:
Occurrence of reflection cracks on the asphalt surface due to the joints and
cracks in the rigid base layer
Comparison of Rigid and Flexible Pavements
• The following main differences between rigid and flexible
pavements can be cited:
The manner in which vehicle loads are transmitted to the sub-grade
soil,
Design precision,
Design life,
Maintenance requirements,
Initial cost,
Cont..
Suitability for stage construction,
Surface characteristics,
Permeability,
Traffic dislocation during construction
Cont..
Concrete pavements can be classified into four types:
Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP)
Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP)
Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP)
Prestressed concrete pavement (PCP).
Jointed plain concrete pavements are plain concrete pavements
constructed with closely spaced contraction joints.
• Dowels or aggregate interlocks may be used for load
transfer across the joints. In jointed reinforced concrete
pavements are concrete pavements with steel reinforcements
in the form of wire mesh or deformed bars mainly to allow
the use of longer joint spacing but do not increase the
structural capacity of pavements.
Cont..
• Because of the longer panel length, dowels are required for
load transfer across the joints. The amount of distributed
steel increases with the increase in joint spacing and is
designed to hold the slab together after cracking.
• Continuous reinforced concrete pavements are reinforced
concrete pavements designed joint-free for the purpose of
eliminating joints, which are the weak spots in rigid
pavements. The elimination of joints would decrease the
thickness of pavement required.
• The pre-application of a compressive stress to the concrete
greatly reduces the tensile stress caused by the traffic loads
and thus decreases the thickness of concrete required. The
pre-stressed concrete pavements have less probability of
cracking and fewer transverse joints and therefore result in
less maintenance and longer pavement life.
