Guidelines For The Design

GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN
OF
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS
(Third Revision)
DRAFT
THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS

APRIL 2011
Page 1 of 57
ABBREVIATIONS
AASHTO
BC
BUSG
BM
CBR
DBM
WMM
GB
GSB
IRC
MORTH
msa
SDBC
CTB
RAP
American Association of State Highway and

Transportation Officials
Bituminous Concrete
Built up Spray Grout
Bituminous Macadam
California Bearing Ratio
Dense Bituminous Macadam
Wet mix Macadam
Granular Base
Granular Sub-Base
Indian Roads Congress
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Million Standard Axles
Semi-Dense Bituminous Concrete
Cement Treated Base
Recycled Asphalt Pavement
Page 2 of 57
GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The design of flexible pavement involves the interplay of several variables, such as,
axle loads, characteristics of traffic, climate, terrain and sub-grade conditions. With a
view to have a unified approach for working out the design of flexible pavement in the
country, the IRC first brought out guidelines in 1970. These were based on California
Bearing Ratio method. To handle large spectrum of axle load, these guidelines were
revised in 1984 following the equivalent axle load concept. In this approach, the
pavement thickness was related to the cumulative number of standard axles to be carried out
for different sub-grade strengths. These guidelines used an empirical approach based on a large
extent on past experience and judgment of highway agencies. Design curves were
developed to cater upto 30 million standard axles.
2.2 The guidelines were revised again in 2001 to meet the demand of heavy traffic
where pavements were required to be designed for traffic as high as 150 million standard
axles. A semi-mechanistic approach was used as a result of the MORTHs Research
Scheme R-56 implemented at IIT Kharagpur. A software, FPAVE, was developed for
the analysis and design of flexible pavements. Multi-linear elastic theory was adopted
for stress analysis of the layered elastic system. A large number of data collected from
different parts of India under various research schemes of MORTH were used for
development of fatigue and rutting criteria from field performance data. The traffic
pattern has changed since then. Tandem and multi-axle vehicles have increased many
folds and heavier axles exceeding legal load limits are very common though the limits
on single, tandem and tridem axles are 10.2,18 and 25 tons respectively. Considerable
experience has accumulated on use of materials such as Stone Mastic Asphalt,
modified bitumen, foamed bitumen, bitumen emulsion, warm asphalt, cementitious
bases and subbases since the last revision. New soil stabilizers available commercially
are being successfully used in trial sections. Knowledge on high fatigue bituminous
mixes with different types of binders are now available for application so that a
pavement can be designed to have a longer life. It is believed that the guidelines
contained in the document reflect the current knowledge in the subject.
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2. SCOPE
2.1. These guidelines will apply to design of flexible pavements for
Expressways, National Highways, State Highways, Major District Roads and
other categories of roads predominantly carrying motorized vehicles. These are not
applicable to low volume roads.
2.2. For the purpose of the guidelines, flexible pavements are considered to include flexible
pavements with (i) thin bituminous surfacing over granular base and subbase ( ii) Thick bituminous
layer over granular base and granular subbase and (iii) bituminous layers over a cementitious
subbase and (iv) bituminous layers over a cementitious base . In case of cementitous subgrade,
subbase and base, adequate safeguard for reflection cracking in the bituminous layer has to
be provided. Recycled aggregates from bituminous and non-bituminous layers may also be
used with appropriate treatment and laboratory testing in the light of Indian and international
experience.
2.3. These guidelines apply to new pavements.
2.4. For design of strengthening measures or overlays for existing pavements, the
design procedure described in IRC:81-1997 "Tentative Guidelines for Strengthening
of Flexible Road Pavements Using Benkelman Beam Deflection Technique" can be used .
Falling Weight Deflectometer can also be used using the results of research scheme R-81
for design of overlays using the analytical concept enshrined in the guidelines and available
in the web site of Indian roads Congress.
2.5. The guidelines may require revision from time to time in the light of future
experience and developments in the field. Towards this end, it is suggested that all the
organisations intending to use the guidelines, should keep a detailed record of year of
construction, subgrade CBR, soil characteristics including resilient modulus,
pavement composition and specifications, traffic, pavement performance, overlay
history, climatic conditions, etc. and provide feedback to the Indian Roads Congress.
3 GENERAL
3.1 The IRC:37-2001 was based on findings of the research schemes R-6, R-24, R-19
and R-56 of Ministry Of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India. The
pavement performance data was collected from all over India by academic Institutions
and Central road Research Institute to evolve the fatigue and rutting criteria for
pavement design using a semi-analytical approach.
3.2 A large number of high volume highways were constructed during the last decade
using IRC:37-2001 and the most common mode of distress has been flushing and
rutting in the bituminous layer. This has been brought out in several IRC papers also.
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Surface cracking of the bituminous layer within a year or two of construction was also
observed in different parts of India. New materials such as binders modified with
polymer and crumb rubber and stone mastic asphalt were not widely used in
India ten years back. The data on fatigue and rutting of the different types of
bituminous mixtures are now available. With the increasing volume of heavy
commercial vehicles, major highway pavements need to be designed for traffic greater
than 150 msa. The present guidelines address these problems. Bituminous mix design
and pavement design are integrated so that pavement life can be increased by using
fatigue and rut resistant mixes to eliminate frequent resurfacing of high volume roads.
Single axles with single wheels and tridem axles are also considered now in the
computation of equivalent standard axle load repetitions. The maximum design traffic
of 150msa considered in the previous guidelines is reached in ten to twelve years on
many highways because of large volume of heavy vehicles and it is, therefore, necessary
that the design traffic be raised to higher values with necessary changes in selection of
materials to avoid damage of full depth bituminous layers. In addition to common
overloading beyond the legal limits, the number of tandem, tridem and multi axle
vehicles has increased considerably over the last ten years when IRC-37:2001 was first
drafted. Hence revision is necessary to meet new challenges.
Special features of the revised guidelines are
(i)
Incorporation of design period to more than fifteen years
(ii)
Computation of effective CBR of subgrade for pavement design
(iii) Use of rut resistant surface layer
(iv) Use of fatigue resistant bottom bituminous layer
(v)
Selection of surface layer to prevent top down cracking
(vi) Use of emulsion/foamed bitumen treated aggregates/recycled
aggregates in base course
(vii) Use of stabilized subgrade, subbase and base
(viii) Design of drainage layer
(ix) Computation of equivalent single axle load considering (a) single axle
with single wheels (b) single axle with dual wheels (c) tandem axle
and (d) tridem axles
Load associated failure is considered as the mode of failure in the design of flexible
pavements. Environment effect is taken care of in pavement performance and
calibration of rutting and fatigue equations. Properties of materials used in flexible
pavements design are discussed in the following.
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4 Subgrade
4.1. The subgrade is usually considered as the top 500mm of the embankment made up
select soil, in situ material or stabilized low strength in situ material that forms the
foundation of a pavement. It should be well compacted to utilize its full strength to
prevent damage to pavement due to additional densification under service. Subgrade
shall be compacted to a minimum of 97 per cent of laboratory dry density achieved
with heavy compaction as per IS:2720 (Part 8) for Expressways, National Highways,
State Highways, Major District Roads and other heavily trafficked roads. For
cohesionless subgrade, a minimum of 100% dry density should be achieved under heavy
compaction. IRC: 36 "Recommended Practice for the Construction of Earth
Embankments for Road Works" should be followed for guidance during planning and
execution of work. The subgrade should have a minimum CBR of 5 percent for roads
having a traffic of 1000 commercial vehicles per day or higher.
4.2. For design, the subgrade strength is assessed in terms of resilient modulus
which can be determined from laboratory test as specified by AASHTO in T27482 Resilient Modulus of Subgrade Spoils. Alternatively, the resilient modulus
can be obtained from the CBR values of the subgrade as per IS:2720 (Part 16)
"Methods of Test for Soils: Laboratory Determination of CBR"at the most critical
moisture conditions likely to occur at site. The test must always be performed on
remoulded samples of soils in the laboratory.The pavement thickness should be based on a
4-day soaked CBR value of the soil, remoulded at placement density and moisture content
ascertained from the field compaction curve.
Wherever possible the test specimens should be prepared by Static Compaction but if
not so possible dynamic method may be used as an alternative. Both procedures are
described in brief in Annexure-III.
The relation between resilient modulus and the CBR is given as
E (MPa) = 10*CBR
for CBR < 5 and
0.64
= 176*(CBR)
for CBR > 5
E= Resilient modulus of subgrade soil
4.3. Selection of dry density and moisture content for test specimen
4.3.1. For a given soil, the CBR value and consequently the design will depend largely
on the density and moisture content of the test sample. Therefore, the test conditions
should reproduce as closely as possible the conditions likely to occur under the road
after construction.
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4.3.2 The moisture condition of the subgrade which the test sample is expected to
simulate is governed by local environmental factors, such as, the water table,
precipitation, soil permeability, drainage conditions and the extent to which the
pavement is waterproof. Thin surfacing do not always seal the pavement effectively
against ingress of water. Though major highways are being provided with paved
shoulders, majority of roads have their shoulders and verges unsurfaced and the
surface water may percolate into the subgrade from near the edges of the pavement,
leading to weak subgrade conditions.
4.3.3 It is recommended that as a general practice, the design for new construction
should be based on the strength of the samples prepared at the values of prescribed
dry density and moisture content obtained in accordance with IS:2720 (Part 8) or (Part
7) as the case may be and soaked in water for a period of four days prior to testing.
Use of expansive clays is not allowed for subgrade construction particularly for
heavily trafficked roads. As far as possible, a non-expansive soil should be used for the
subgrade. Where use of expansive clays is unavoidable, the compaction
requirements and additional measures as discussed in Annexure-III should be
followed.
4.3.4. However, it should be realised that soaking for four days may be an
unrealistically severe moisture condition in certain cases, where the climate is dry
throughout the year, i.e., the annual rainfall is of the order of 500 mm and the water table is
too deep to affect the subgrade adversely. It is anticipated that in this situation the
most severe moisture condition in the field will be far below that of the sample at the end
of four days soaking, resulting in unduly conservative designs if soaking procedure
is adopted. In such cases, the specimens for finding the CBR value may be prepared
at the equilibrium moisture content of the soil that occurs about a metre below the
ground level. Proper judgment has to be exercised in selecting the moisture content.
4.4 Use of test results for design and the minimum number of tests
required
4.4.1. A minimum of six to eight soil samples for each soil type along the alignment
should be tested for CBR values. The design CBR is defined as the CBR value such that
90% of the laboratory determined CBR values are equal or greater than the set of values
obtained along the alignment for high volume roads such as expressways national
highways, State Highways and similar others. In other words, only ten percent of the
values are lss than the design value. For other categories of roads, selection of design
CBR may be done at a reliability level of 80 percent. Pavement thickness on new roads may
be modified at intervals as dictated by the soil changes but generally it will be found
inexpedient to do so frequently from practical considerations.
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4.4.2. It is possible that in certain soil types under abnormal conditions the measured
CBR values may appear doubtful and not truly representative of the strength of soil. A
more complete study of the soil may be warranted in such cases to arrive at a more
reliable design.
4.4.3 As the reproducibility of the CBR results is dependent on a number of factors,
wide variations in values can be expected. Therefore, at least three samples should be
tested on each type of soil at the same density and moisture content. This will enable a
reliable average value to be obtained in most cases. To weed out erratic results,
permissible maximum variation within the CBR values from the three specimens is
indicated in Table 1.
TABLE 1. PERMISSIBLE VARIATION IN CBR VALUE
CBR (per cent)
Maximum variation in CBR value
5
5-10
11-30
31 and above
1
2
3
5
Where variation is more than the above, the design CBR value should be the
average of test results from at least six samples and not three.
4.4.3
The in situ CBR of the of the sub grade soil can also be determined from the Dynamic Cone
Penetrometer (600 cone) from the following relation (ASTM D4429-93)
Log CBR=2.632-1.28 log N
Where N=mm/blow
The resilient modulus(MR) of the compacted subgrade can also be determined from falling Weight
Deflectometer (FWD).The resilient modulus (MR) of the subgarde is taken as 33% of the dynamic MR
value from the FWD test(AASHTO 1993).
4.4.4
If the CBR of the 500mm thick compacted subgrade is significantly higher than that of the
embankment soil below it, the effective CBR of the subgrade for pavement design can be determined
from Figure 1.
30
EFFECTIVE CBR OF SUBGRADE
CBR below 500mm

25
20
15
10
CBR below 500mm

7
5
of compacted subgrade
3
2.5
2
1.5
Page 8 of 57
5 Pavement materials
5.1 General
5.1.1 A flexible pavement consists of different layers of materials as shown in Figure 2
Bituminous
Bituminouslayer
layer
Base layer (granular-unbound/bound)
Subbase layer(granular-unbound/bound)
subgrade
Figure 2 Different layers of a bituminous pavement
Selection of bitumen, bituminous mixtures and thickness of bituminous surfacing depends upon
the climate, traffic and the composition of the underlying layer. The base layer may consist of
granular layer such as wet mix macadam, water bound macadam or granular materials treated
with cement or bitumen emulsion. Foamed bituminous layer with fresh aggregates and recycled
asphalt pavements after treatment have the necessary strength to be used as base layers. The
main function of the subbase layer is to protect the subgarde from overstressing and provide a
platform for the construction traffic.It also functions as a filter as well as drainage layer. The
subbase can be granular or it may be treated with cementitious material to provide a strong
support to a pavement.
5.2 Subbase layer
5.2.1 Sub-base materials comprise of natural sand, moorum, gravel, laterite, kankar, brick
metal, crushed stone, crushed slag, and recycled crushed concrete/recycled asphalt
pavement or combinations thereof meeting the prescribed grading and physical
requirements. When the sub-base material consists of combination of materials, mixing
should be done mechanically either using a suitable mixer or adopting mix-in-place
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method. The subbase should have sufficient strength and thickness to serve the construction
traffic.
5.1.2 Specifications of granular sub-base (GSB) materials conforming to MORTH
Specifications for Road and Bridge Works are recommended for use. These
specifications suggest three grading each for close and coarse graded granular subbase materials and specify that the materials passing 425 micron sieve when tested in
accordance with IS:2720 (Part 5) should have liquid limit and plasticity index of not
more than 25 and 6 respectively. These requirements and the specified grain size
distribution of the sub-base material should be strictly enforced in order to meet
strength, filter and drainage requirements of the granular sub-base layer. When coarse
graded subbase is used as a drainage layer, Los Angeles abrasion value must be less than
40 so that there is no excessive crushing during the rolling and the permeability is retained.
5.1.3 The subbase should be composed of two layers, the lower layer forms the filter layer
to prevent intrusion of subgrade soil into the pavement and the upper GSB forms the
drainage layer to drain away any water that may enter through surface cracks.Filter and
drainage layer can be designed as per IRC:SP:42-1994 and IRC:SP:52-1999.
5.1.3 The granular subbase can be modifed with cementitious material such as cement,
lime-fly ash to impart greater strength to it to bring down the thickness requirement of the
bituminous layer. The drainage layer also may consist of open graded aggregates bound
with about 2% cement or with 1.5 to 2% bitumen so that regrading is not required after
the operation of the construction traffic while retaining the permeability.
5.1.4 Resilient modulus(MR) of the untreated GSB above the subgrade of modulus,
MRsubgrade ,is given as
MRgsb = o.2h0.45 * MRsubgrade
Where h=thickness of subbase layer in millimetre

MR value of the subbase is dependent upon the MR value of the subgrade since weaker
subgrade does not permit higher modulus of the upper layer because of deformation under
loads.
In case of cemented GSB of thickness h mm, the elastic modulus of GSB in MPa is
given as
Egsb= 1000* UCS .
Where UCS is unconfined strength of the cemented GSB layer in MPa at 28 days.The
suggested UCS values for the subbase are from 1.0 MPa to 2.0 MPa. Since the low
strength cementitious material may not retain modulus given by Equation 4 because of
Page 10 of 57
cracks due to construction traffic as well as wetting and drying, a lower modulus of 600
MPa may be adopted for design.
5.2 Base layer

5.2.1 The base layer may consist of wet mix macadam, water bound macadam, crusher
run macadam, recycled concrete, cold/hot recycled asphalt pavement, bitumen emulsion
treated aggregates, cement treated soil/aggregates. Relevant specifications of
IRC/MORTH are to be adopted for the construction.
5.2.2 When both subbase and the base layers are made up of unbound granular layers, the
composite Resilient modulus of the granular layer consisting of subbase and the base is
given as
MRgranular= o.2* h0.45 MRsubgrade
Where
h=thickness of granular subase and granular base,millimeter
5.2.3 In case of cement treated granular base, the elastic modulus of the cemented base
can be determined by Equation 4. The minimum cementitious content in the cemented base
layer should be determined from wetting and drying test(BIS : 4332 (Part IV) - 1968). Loss of
weight of cement treated aggregates shall not exceed 14% after 12 cycles of wetting and Drying
Test(BIS : 4332 (Part IV) 1968). In regions such as Kasmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, where
freezing and thawing may be more critical, loss after freezing and thawing test shall be less than
14% after 12 cycles.
5.2.3 The cementitious layer having a strength 5 MPa is found to meet the criterion of durability
requirement. High strength cemented layer may develop wide cracks which may reflect to the
bituminous layer. A SAMI layer using CRMB/PMB may be provided over the cemented layer to
delay the cracks propagating to the bituminous layer. A granular of thickness 75 to 100mm
sandwitched between the bituminous layer and cemented layer may extend the fatigue life of the
bituminous layer by about three times. The granular layer may be treated with 1.5 to 2% bitumen
emulsion to eliminate reshaping because of shoving and deformation in the unbound layer
caused by the construction traffic.
Fatigue equation for the cemented layer is given as
(113000 / E 0.804 191) 12

N RF[
]
Where RF= Reliability factor for cemented matewrials for failure against fatigue
= 1 for expressways,national Highways and other heavy volume roads
Page 11 of 57
= 2 for others carrying less than 1000 trucks per day

N= Fatigue life of the cemented material
E= Elastic modulus of cemented material
= tensile strain in the cemented layer, microstrain
5.2.4 If a granular layer is provided between the cemented and bituminous layers on the top, its
Resilient Modulus is dependent upon the confinement pressure under wheel load and it is given
as (MEPDG2004)
oct
1]K
MRgran K1 [ ) K2 [
..
= sum of the principal stresses
oct=
Octahedral stresses=
1
( ( 1 2 ) 2 ( 2 3 ) 2 ( 3 1 ) 2
2
1 2 and 3 are the principal stresses in the granular layer
= atmospheric pressure=100 kPa, K1,K2 and K3 are experimental test constant. For crushed rocks
meeting the gradation of wet mix macadam as per MORTH specification, constants are to be evaluated
from repeated triaxial test as per the AASHTO standard. The default values of the constants may be taken
as 300,1.05 and -0.4 respectively( AUSTROADS). The modulus may vary from 300 to 700MPa and a
typical value of 450 MPa may be used for the analysis of pavements with cemented base having a
granular layer sandwiched between a bituminous surface and the cemented base . Strong support from
cemented base results in higher modulus than what is given by Equation 5.
5.2.5 If the base is made up of foamed bitumen/bitumen emulsion treated fresh aggregates or milled
material from recycled asphalt pavements, a conservative value of resilient modulus of the material may
be taken as 600MPa though laboratory values are much higher than 600MPa. International guidelines can
be used for mix design and construction specifications.
5.3 Bituminous surface layer

5.3.1 Single coat or two coat surface dressing (SD) may be sufficient when traffic is not heavy as
per the experience world over. Thick bituminous layer is necessary for a durable pavement for
heavy volume pavements to avoid frequent interruption for maintenance because of higher road
user cost. A variety of new bituminous materials are now available after the publication of
IRC:37-2001. Resilient Modulus of the bituminous materials with different binders is given in
Table 1. The modulus values given in IRC:37-2001 were revalidated from laboratory
tests(Pawan2009,Krishna2010) using modern equipment. MR values mixes with polymer and
crumb rubber modified binders are also given in Table 1. It can be seen that modulus of mixes
Page 12 of 57
with modified binders at 350C is almost same as that with VG30 bitumen though they have (i)
higher viscosity at higher temperatures (ii) higher softening point and (iii) lower penetration.
This is due to presence of compressible soft rubber/polymer granules present in the mix. Hence
there is no reduction in thickness of the bituminous layer from the lone consideration of
allowable subgrade strain if modified bitumen is used in the bituminous layer. Mix with VG40
bitumen gives much higher moduli and study indicate that modulus values with VG40 bitumen
and those with modified bitumen are comparable at 600C.
5.3.2 Fatigue behavior of mixes with CRMB and PMB can be two to ten times higher as
compared to mixes with normal bitumen. When the binder content is increased by 0.5percent
over and above the optimum, the fatigue lives are increased by more than twice for normal as
well as modified binders(Thomson et al (2004),Krishna (2010)).These properties can be used in
design of long life flexible pavements. Pavement design considerations using properties of
bituminous mixes for optimum design and selection of binder is described in the next section.
Table 1 Resilient Modulus of Bituminous mixes,MPa

Temperature0C
Mix type
20
25
30
35
40
BC and DBM for VG10 bitumen
2300
2000
1450
1000
800
3500
3000
2500
1700
1250
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
BC and DBM for PMB70
5700
4000
2300
1600
1200
BC and DBM for PMB40
6000
3600
2600
1700
1300
BC and DBM for CRMB 55
5400
3700
2300
1600
1300
BC and DBM for CRMB 60
Similar to CRMB55
BM with VG 10 bitumen
500 MPa at 350C
BM with VG 30 bitumen
700 MPa at 350C
WMM/RAP treated with

emulsion/foamed bitumen
( 2% residual bitumen)
3%
bitumen
600 MPa at 350C

( varies from 700 to 1200MPa for water saturated
samples)
Page 13 of 57
The Poisson's ratio of bituminous layer may be taken as 0.50 for pavement
temperatures of 35C and higher. For temperatures from 20C to. 30C, a value
of 0.35 may be adopted. Fatigue equation at any pavement temperature from 20C to
40C can be evaluated by substituting the elastic modulus of the pavement temperature.
Catalogue of designs has been worked out for temperature of 35C.
Page 14 of 57
6. PAVEMENT DESIGN
6.1. General
6.1.1 With the increasing volume of heavy commercial vehicles, major highway
pavements need to be designed for traffic greater than 150 msa. The semi-analytical
method of design adopted in IRC: 37-2001 can be used with some modification to
reanalyze the existing designs and develop a new set of designs traffic higher than 150
msa making use of the results of pavement research work done in India and abroad and
experience gained over the years on the performance of the existing designs. The study in
India(R-56) indicates that the Average Annual pavement Temperature may be taken as
350C for the plains in India. Recommendation for the choice of binder is given in
Annexure VI in the absence of regional performance data.
6.2. Design Method
6.2.1.Parameters affecting design: A flexible pavement is modeled as an elastic multilayer
structure and stresses and strains at critical locations (Figure 3) are computed using
a linear layered elastic model. A software FPAVE developed under the MORTH Research
Scheme R-56 Analytical Design of Flexible Pavements can be used for the analysis of
stresses in flexible pavements. Any commercially available softwares such as
CIRCLY,RUBICON,BISAR,KENPAVE etc can also be used for the analysis. Tensile strain, t , at the
bottom of the bituminous layer and the vertical subgrade strain ,v, on the top of the
subgrade are conventionally considered as critical parameters for pavement design to
limit cracking and rutting in the bituminous and non-bituminous layers respectively.
Computation in multilayer bituminous pavement indicates that tensile strain near the
surface close to edge of a wheel can be sufficiently large to initiate longitudinal surface
cracking if the mix tensile strength is
Dual wheel
Bituminous
surfacing
t
Rut resistant mix
Rut resistant mix
Fatigue resistant mix
Granular layer
Tensile
strain
t
Treated or untreated
v
Subgrade
Figure 3 Different layers of a flexible pavement

Page 15 of 57
Cracks due to tensile strain

oversoft base
tt
Thin bituminous
wearing course
binder course
Granular layer
Subgrade
Figure 4 Longitudinal cracks in top bituminous

layer
not adequate at higher temperatures. The FPAVE software is capable of analyzing a seven layer
layer elastic system in which all layers are bonded at the interfaces. With minor changes in the
software, pavement systems with smooth interfaces can also be analysed. Vertical subgrade
strain,v, needs to be kept below a certain value for a given traffic to limit rutting in the
subgrade and granular layers of a well constructed pavement. Research findings indicate that
the plastic vertical strain, p, in pavement materials depends upon the magnitude of
elastic vertical strain, v, given as
p/ v= K x (N)
..
(8)
Where p and v are plastic and elastic strains respectively, N= number of
repetition of axle loads,K and c are constants

If the computed v on the subgrade for a given wheel load is low, the vertical strain in the upper
layers also is low. Hence limiting the subgrade strain controls the rutting in the subgrade as well
as in the granular layers.
The elastic tensile strains, t , at the bottom and at the top of the bituminous layer should not
exceed a certain value for a given design traffic to limit development of cracks during the design
period. Surface crack may take place on either side of the wheel path as shown
in Figures 4 and 4(a).
Tensile stains near the edge of the tyres can be quite high and surface cracks
may develop much earlier than those at the bottom particularly at higher
temperatures. Though a number of cases of Top Down Cracking within a year or two of
opening to traffic has been found at many locations in the BC and the DBM layers in India,
such phenomena has not been very common because of use of softer bitumen leading to surface
bleeding and rutting( ) rather than surface cracking.
Page 16 of 57
Figures 5 (a) and (b) show nature of transverse surface cracks that may develop due to
horizontal shear stresses applied by the dual wheels of heavy commercial vehicles during
acceleration, braking and during normal movement. The shear stress during acceleration and
braking can be large enough to initiate surface cracks if the mix does not have adequate tensile
strength. Figures 4(a) and (b) give another view of cracks developing at the bottom and the top.
Direction of travel
Direction
of shear
Direction
of shear
Direction of travel
(a)Tensile strain during acceleration and

normal traction
(b)Tensile strain during breaking
t
Figure 5 Tensile strain on the bituminous surface during normal
traction, acceleration and braking for surface cracking in transverse
direction
BT
BT
Granular base
Granular base
(a)
(b)
Figure 4 Cracks at bottom(a) and top(b)
The cracks in Figure 3 (a) can develop by heavy vehicles during the normal operation also for
mixes of lower tensile strength. The surface cracks responsible for top down cracking shown in
Figures 2,3 and 4(b) can be delayed by using high viscosity binder such as VG40 or
Page 17 of 57
polymer/Crumb rubber modified binder because of high tensile strength in the top layer of the
bituminous surfacing. Stone Mastic Asphalt also is both crack and rut resistant. Low
temperature transverse cracking associated with stiffer binders is not a problem in plains of
India. Bitumen of lower viscosity controls transverse surface cracking in colder regions as per
international experience . In the light of the above, the approach discussed in the following is
recommended for design of bituminous pavements
6.2.2 Rutting in subgrade and granular layer
Large amount of field data for rutting in bituminous pavements were collected and
analysed during several research projects of MORTH and a relationship between
limiting surface rutting of 20mm and the vertical elastic subgrade strain was developed
for different repetitions of standard axle loads and it was subsequently adopted in IRC37:2001.Similar approach was used by Asphalt Institute,AUSTROADS and Shell for
design of flexible pavements. The bituminous layers were not very thick in India in eighties
and nineties when rutting data was collected and most of the rutting took place in the subgrade
and the granular layers only. The equations for rutting for 80% and 90% reliability
respectively are given (R56 ,Impr ) as
N= 4.1656 x 10-08 [1/v] 4.5337
N= 1.41x 10-8x [1/v] 4.5337
---------------------------
(9)
(10)
Eq.2 was used as the rutting criterion in IRC:37-2001 for controlling rutting in the granular
layers and the rutting in the bituminous layer was to be taken care of by selecting appropriate
binder and mix design
A more scientific approach would be to estimate permanent deformation in different layers by
spectrum of axle loads adopted in mechanistic-empirical pavement design method( ) but this
would require massive research effort in laboratory as well as in the field in different regions of
the country so that laboratory equations can be calibrated and validated from field performance.
Data from other countries can not directly be used due to different types of traffic and climate.
Equation 2 having a reliability of 80% is based upon a good data base for limiting rutting in
granular layers and the subgrade soils. Eq.3 is recommended for 90% reliability for high volume
roads. Providing large thickness of granular layer does not cause any marked reduction in the
thickness of bituminous layer from fatigue consideration. Field performance data of pavements
designed as per IRC:37-2001 indicated unacceptable rutting in the bituminous layer after the
construction of highways ( ) because of higher temperatures and heavy axle loads rather than in
the granular layers. This needs to be addressed in selection of binder pavement design.
6.2.3 Rutting in the bituminous layer
Page 18 of 57
Thickness of bituminous layers in India is close to 200mm heavy volume roads and the rutting in
the layer is to be controlled by using binder of appropriate viscosity considering the traffic,
climate and field experience. Rut resistant mixes for high volume traffic and air temperatures
above 400C can be obtained by using high viscosity binders such as VG40, PMB40,CRMB60
etc. Laboratory rut tests using IITKGP RUT tester on mixes with VG40( 30/40 bitumen) PMB
40 as well as CRMB 60 indicated almost equal performance at 500C from rutting consideration
though VG40(30/40 bitumen) had a higher stiffness at 350C as compared to mixes with modified
binders. VG30 (60/70) bitumen gave much higher rutting in the rut tester , a phenomenon
observed in the field also though it meets the super specification requirement( ) of 1 kPa for
*
G /sin at 640C using Dynamic Shear Rheometer. Even when modified bitumen is used in the
wearing course, the rutting may occur in the DBM layer immediately below the wearing course
if VG30 is used ( KSR). Hence a higher grade of binder is recommended for the mix both for the
BC and the binder course below the wearing course under heavy traffic conditions for the
maximum air temperatures over 400C. Recommendation of IRC:111-2009 for use of VG40
bitumen in BC as well as DBM layer may be adopted if the design lane carries over 2000
commercial vehicles per day. Stone Mastic Asphalt is another wearing course that is
known to be rut resistant. Marshall method of mix design is recommended for
determination of optimum binder content.
( Note for members of the FPC: 40/50 bitumen is the recommended for the wearing course,
binder course and base courses for heavily trafficked trunck roads in UK in spite of much lower
summar temperature and the bitumen content of the wearing course(rolled asphalt) is over 6% to
preclude any surface cracks.New Euro guidelines recommend 50 Penetration bitumen for for all
the three bituminous layers for heavy traffic highways. 20/30 bitumen has been used in France
for getting rut resistant surface layer. DOT, Texas in USA uses PG76-22 binder for bituminous
construction though summar temperature is not as high as experienced in plains of India.
SUPERPAVE Mix design recommends that for heavy traffic, binder which is one grade higher
than required from temperature consideration should be adopted. For signalizds intersection,
the binder is two grades higher.The 60/70 bitumen in Vogue earlier in India can be designated
as PG 64(lab tests at IITKGP) as per the Superpave specification (high temperature only) but
the binder has caused serious problems on high volume road where air temperatures exceeded
400 C. )
6.2.3 Fatigue resistant bituminous layer

6.2.3.1 Laboratory tests indicate (IITKGP,shell,AI,MEPDG) that fatigue life of
a bituminous layer is dependent upon the bitumen content for a given mix and
the bitumen. A bituminous layer with higher modulus has lower tensile strain
by a wheel load at the bottom of the layer. In order that the bottom Dense
Page 19 of 57
Bituminous Macadam has a higher fatigue life, it should contain higher

bitumen content to have a long fracture life. For a bituminous layer thickness of
150mm and higher, the temperature of the bottom DBM is much lower than the
top bituminous wearing course and there is little chance of rutting in the bottom
layer if the air void is close to 3 percent. Computation also shows that the
tensile strain in the wearing course near the edge of the tyre can be even higher(
) than that at the bottom of bituminous layer particularly at higher temperatures
and therefore, the wearing course also must be fatigue resistant in addition to
being rut resistant. Higher temperatures in the top bituminous layers helps in
healing of the cracks caused by surface tensile strain ( ) though ageing is faster
near the surface. Fatigue lives of bituminous mixes can be increased by a factor
of two or higher by simply increasing the binder content by 0.5%. In a two
layer bituminous construction consisting of BC and DBM, VG40 bitumen is
recommended for the bottom layer also but its fatigue life can be enhanced by
suitable mix design by having higher binder content of high viscosity bitumen .
Some mixes with Polymer Modified and crumb rubber modified binders have
fatigue lives which can be two to ten times higher than the normal bituminous
mixes( IITKGP,Witczak) depending upon the binder content and designers can
utilize this property in designing high fatigue life bituminous pavements.
6.2.3.3
Fatigue life of a bituminous mixture

reliability level of 80%( ) is given as
Nf = 2.21 * 10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/E]0.854
-----
for bottom up cracking at a
(11)
Nf = fatigue life, t = Maximum Tensile strain at the bottom of the bituminous layer,
E= resilient modulus of the bituminous layer
Eq.11 was used in IRC:37-2001
For high volume highways, a reliability level of 90% and higher is used all over the
world to avoid frequent maintenance. The fatigue equation for 90% reliability( ) is
worked out as
Nf = 0.711 * 10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/E]0.854
(12)
Note:(It may be mentioned that the fatigue life for 90% reliability is almost same as
that giuven by AUSTROADS for the same reliability (for information to members of
FPC).
6.2.3.4 the bitumen content of the DBM mixes used in major highways in India varies generally from a
minimum of 4% to maximum of about 5% depending upon the gradation and the specific gravity of the
aggregates; and the average void content is about 4.5% .In a two layer DBM,the fatigue life of bottom layer
needs to be enhanced e enhanced by increasing its bitumen content s that it does not crack at all during the
design life of the pavement. Though softer bitumen can be used in lower layers since the temperature may not
Page 20 of 57
high below 100mm depth, use of softer bitumen would require thicker DBM layer because of its lower
modulus. Asphalt Institute(5 ) and Shell(6 ) have given equations for determination of fatigue life of
bituminous mixtures for different values of volume of bitumen(Vb) and the air voids(Va). The concepts of
Asphalt Institute( ) Shell( ) can be used to obtain high fatigue mixes and the fatigue Equation 12 having a
reliability level of 90% is modified to include the effects of air void and volume of bitumen on fatigue life of
bituminous mixtures. The modified fatigue equation is given as
Nf = 0.5161 * C*10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/E]0.854
(13)
Where
C= 10M, M 4.84 (
Vb
0.69 )
Va Vb
..
( 14)
Va =air void and Vb=volume of bitumen,

Nf= fatigue life, t= maximum tensile strain at the bottom of DBM
E= Resilient modulus of bituminous mix.

Effect of bitumen content may thus be accounted for. If Va=4.5% and Vb=11.5% ( corresponding to bitumen
content of approximately 4.5% by weight of total mix ) , Equation 13 is reduced to Equation 12 having a
reliability of 90%.If the constant 0.5161 of Eq.13 is replaced by 1.604 ( 0.5161x2.21/0.711) the modified
equation will have a reliability of 80%. Effect of bitumen content can thus be accounted for to determine the
fatigue life of a bituminous mixture.
As a rough guide, if 0.5% to 0.6% additional bitumen is used in a mix, the constant in the
Equations 13 can be evaluated from 14.
Equations 11 and 12 give fatigue lives for 20% cracked area of the bituminous layer at
a reliability level of 80 and 90% respectively. To avoid frequent maintenance, a
reliability level of 90% is recommended for high volume roads and no additional
thickness of bituminous layer than what is specified as per IRC:37-2001 will be required
if the bottom bituminous layer is made fatigue resistant by increasing the binder content
by 0.5% or higher so that the air void is around 3%. Stiffer binder is recommended for
the bottom layer also so that it has a high modulus and the thickness requirement also is
less. Mix design and pavement design should be integrated to get an optimum design.
Using the principle outlined above, a pavement can be design so that the bottom
bituminous layer has a very long life and only the wearing course would need
replacement from time to time.
6.2.3.5 Based on the fatigue and rutting equations, bituminous pavements can be
designed for different subgrade modulus. Design is to be optimized considering
different options use of cemented subbase, cemented bases, bituminous mix with
Page 21 of 57
different bitumen content in different layers. The top 40mm to 50mm of the bituminous
layer would suffer damage due to traffic and weathering and it would require renewal
after milling. Hot recycling also can be alternative to conserve the materials. Since
every region is unique from the consideration of traffic and availability of materials,
engineers have to develop thickness of pavements to suit the region. In case of heavy
rainfall area, proper internal drainage also must be provided to increase the pavement
life. Local experience should be made use of while selecting the pavement layers. A
method for design of drainage is also included in later in the guideline. A few examples
of pavement designs are illustrated and thickness for different subgrade modulus
values corresponding to CBR of 5 to 20 and design traffic ranging from 1 msa to 150
msa or higher can be computed. Temperature effect is taken care of by assigning
appropriate value of resilient modulus to the bituminous layer depending upon the
average annual pavement temperature(AAPT). 350C is the most appropriate AAPT for
plains of India(R-56) .The layer thicknesses obtained from the analysis can be modified
to adapt the designs to stage construction.
Traffic
7.1 General
7.1.1. The recommended method considers traffic in terms of the cumulative number
of standard axles (80kN) to be carried by the pavement during the design life. For
estimating design traffic, the following information is needed:
(i) Initial traffic after construction in terms of number of
Commercial Vehicles per day (CVPD)
(ii) Traffic growth rate during the design life in percentage
(iii) Design life in number of years
(iv) Vehicle damage factor (VDF)
(v) Distribution of commercial traffic over the carriageway.
7.1.2. For the purpose of structural design, only the number of commercial vehicles of
gross vehicle weight of three tonnes or more and their axle-loading is considered.
Page 22 of 57
7.1.3. To obtain a realistic estimate of design traffic, due consideration should be given
to the existing traffic or that anticipated based on possible changes in the road network
and land use of the area served, the probable growth of traffic and design life. Estimate
of the initial daily average traffic flow for any road should normally be based on
atleast 7 days, 24 hour classified traffic counts. In cases of new roads, traffic estimates
can be made on the basis of potential land use and traffic on existing routes in the area.
7.2
Traffic growth rate
7.2.1 Traffic growth rates should be estimated

(1) By studying the past trends of traffic growth, and
(2) By establishing econometric models, as per the procedure outlined in IRC:

guidelines
7.2.2 If adequate data is not available, it is recommended that an average annual growth
rate of 7.5 per cent may be adopted.
7.3 Design life

7.3.1. For the design of pavement, the design life is defined in terms of the
cumulative number of standard axles that can be carried before strengthening of the
pavement is necessary.
7.3.2 It is recommended that pavements for National Highways and State Highways
should be designed for a minimum life of 15 years. Expressways and urban roads may be
designed for a longer life of 20 years or higher. For other categories of roads, a design
life of 10 to 15 years may be adopted.
7.3.3 Very often it is not possible to provide the full thickness of pavement right at the
time of initial construction. Stage construction techniques should be resorted to in
such cases.
7.4 Vehicle damage factor
7.4.1 Though it is more scientific to determine cumulative damaging effect of different
axle load groups on pavements, field data is not yet available and the concept of
equivalent standard axle load repetitions remains thebest available option for thickness
design
7.4.2 The vehicle damage factor (VDF) is a multiplier to convert the number of
commercial vehicles of different axle loads and axle configuration to the number of
repetitions of standard axle load of magnitude 80kN. It is defined as equivalent number
Page 23 of 57
of standard axles per commercial vehicle. The VDF varies with the vehicle axle
configuration, axle loading, direction of travel, terrain, type of road and region. The VDF
is arrived at from axle load surveys on typical road sections so as to cover various
influencing factors, such as traffic mix, mode of transportation, commodities carried, time
of the year, terrain, road conditions and degree of enforcement.
7.4.3 The equations for computing equivalency factors(World Bank,1987) for single,
tandem and tridem axles are given in the following. They are used for converting
different axle load repetitions into equivalent standard axle load repetitions.
Single axle with single wheel on either side = (
Single axle with dual wheels on either side= (
axle load in kN 4
) ..
65
axle load in kN 4
) ..
80
15
16
Tandem axle with dual wheels on either side= (
axle load in kN 4
)
148
17
Tridem axles with dual wheels on either side= (
axle load in kN 4
)
224
18
7.4.4. For designing a new pavement, the VDF should be arrived at carefully by
carrying out specific axle load surveys on the existing roads. A minimum sample size
of 10% of the vehicles in each direction without any bias for loaded or unloaded vehicles
is recommended for heavy volume road. On roads with lower volume of traffic, sample
size can be 50%. On some sections, there may be significant difference in axle loading
in two directions of traffic. In such situations, the VDF should be evaluated direction
wise to determine the lanes which are heavily loaded for the purpose of design.
7.4.5 Where sufficient information on axle loads is not available and the project size
does not warrant conducting an axle load survey, the indicative values of vehicle damage
factor as given in Table 2 may be used.
Page 24 of 57
TABLE 2. INDICATIVE VDF VALUES
0-150
Rolling/Plain
1.5
Terrain
Hilly
0.5
150-1500
3.5
1.5
More than 1500
4.5
2.5
Initial traffic volume in terms of

commercial vehicles per day
7.5. Distribution of commercial traffic over the carriageway

7.5.1 A realistic assessment of distribution of commercial traffic by direction
and by lane is necessary as it directly affects the total equivalent standard axle
load applications used in the design. In the absence of adequate and conclusive data, it
is recommended that the following distribution may be assumed for design until more
reliable data on placement of commercial vehicles on the carriageway lanes are
available:
(i) Single-lane roads
Traffic tends to be more channelized on single-lane roads than two-lane roads
and to allow for this concentration of wheel load repetitions, the design should
be based on total number of commercial vehicles in both directions.
(ii) Two-lane single carriageway roads
The design should be based on 50% per cent of the total number of
commercial vehicles in both directions. If vehicle damage factor in one direction
is higher, the design traffic in the direction of higher VDF is recommended.
(iii) Four-lane single carriageway roads
The design should be based on 40 per cent of the total number of commercial
vehicles in both directions.
(iv) Dual carriageway roads

The design of dual two-lane carriageway roads should be based on 75 per cent
of the number of commercial vehicles in each direction. For dual three-lane
carriageway and dual four-lane carriageway, the distribution factor will be 60 per
cent and 45 per cent respectively.
Page 25 of 57
7.5.2 The traffic in each direction may be assumed to be half of the sum in both
directions when the latter only is known. Where significant difference between the
two streams can occur, condition in the more heavily trafficked lane should be
considered for design.
Where the distribution of traffic between the carriageway lanes and axle loads
spectrum for the carriageway lanes are available, the design should be based on the
traffic in the most heavily trafficked lane and the same design will normally be applied
for the whole carriageway width.
7.6 Computation of design traffic
7.6.1 The design traffic is considered in terms of the cumulative number of standard
axles (in the lane carrying maximum traffic) to be carried during the design life of
the road. This can be computed using the following equation:
365 [(1 r ) n 1]
A D F
r
Where,
N = The cumulative number of standard axles to be catered for in the design in terms of
msa
A = Initial traffic in the year of completion of construction in terms of the number of
Commercial vehicles per day.
D =Lane distribution factor (as explained in para 5.5.1)
F = Vehicle damage factor
n = Design life in years
r = Annual growth rate of commercial vehicles (for 7.5 per cent annual growth rate, r =
0.075)
The traffic in the year of completion is estimated using the following

formula:
A = P (1+r) x
Where,
P = Number of commercial vehicles as per last count.

x = Number of years between the last count and the year of completion of
Construction.
Page 26 of 57
8. PAVEMENT THICKNESS AND COMPOSITION

8.1. Pavement Thickness Design
8.1.1 Pavement thickness can be evaluated for a given equivalent standard axle load
repetitions using the design criteria given in sections 3 and 4. For thickness of
bituminous layer less than 50mm, only subgrade strain criterion is to be used for
determination of total thickness of pavement since the flexural strain at the bottom of
the thin bituminous layer is compressive. Because of thick bituminous film in surface
dressing, premix carpet and mixed seal surfacing, they do not fail in flexural fatigue. In
areas where there is acute shortage of aggregates, cementitious materials like lime-soil,
lime-flyash-soil, lime-flyash-aggregates, cement treated soils and aggregates may be
used to optimize the construction cost. Plenty of chemical soil stabilsers are available
commercially and many of them have undergone trials in different locations in India.
They should be evaluated for their structural parameters for pavement design. The
guidelines for low volume rural roads, IRC:SP:74-2007, can be used for design of
pavements with traffic up to one million standard axles.Though the minimum
thickness of granular layer consisting of granular subbase and granular subbase for an
optimum design from rutting and fatigue consideration is about 350 to 450mm( R-56
Research Report), additional thickness may be necessary from the consideration of
separation, drainage and the construction traffic. For National highways and
Expressways, fatigue equation with 90% reliability should be used and the bottom
bituminous layer should be fatigue resistant to have a long life and only the top layer
may be replaced from time to time depending upon the traffic and local experience. If
stage construction is desired because of uncertainty of traffic growth, full depth of
granular base and subbase may be provided.
8.1.2 There can be a large number of thickness combinations for pavements for a given
traffic and subgrade soil condition depending upon the availability of materials. High
volume roads need special consideration to avoid frequent major maintenance.
Thickness design methods using cemented materials, fatigue resistant bituminous
materials are illustrated and designers should optimize the design considering
availability of materials and funds. An example is illustrated for design of pavements
having a life of 300 msa. A catalogue of design using conventional bituminous mix
with VG30 bitumen is given in the following for traffic from 2msa to 150 msa for CBR
from 3 to 10. The subgrade CBR may be close to 20 also in some cases, and in that
case several trials are to be made using the design criterion. The thickness of the
granular base and the subbase are based on practical considerations and for the
suggested thickness of the granular layer, only the fatigue and rutting of the bituminous
layer are expected to determine the pavement life. If the region has average of seven
Page 27 of 57
day maximum air temperature exceeding 400C and the number of commercial vehicles
is over 2000, VG40 bitumen is recommended for the binder as well as wearing courses.
Mixes with modified bitumen and Stone Mastic Asphalt, a rut and fatigue resistant mix
meeting the requirement of IRC, can also be used as a wearing course for high volume
roads. Basis for selection of bitumen is given in Appendix?
PAVEMENT DESIGN CATALOGUE
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
715
750
795
850
CBR 2%
PAVEMENT COMPOSITIO
Bituminous Surfacing
Granular
Base
PC/SDBC/BC BM/DBM
mm
(mm)
(mm)
20 PC
50 BM
225
20 PC
60 BM
250
25 SDBC
70 DBM
250
40 BC
100 DBM
250
Granular
Sub-base
mm
440
440
450
460
20
880
40 BC
130 DBM
250
460
30
900
40 BC
150 DBM
250
460
50
925
40 BC
175 DBM
250
460
100
955
50 BC
195 DBM
250
460
150
975
50 BC
215 DBM
250
460
Page 28 of 57
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
20
30
50
100
150
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
610
645
690
760
790
810
830
860
890
CBR 3%
PAVEMENT COMPOSITIO
Granular
Base (mm)
Wearing
Binder
Course (mm) Course (mm)
20 PC
50 BM
225
20 PC
60 BM
250
25 SDBC
60 DBM
250
40 BC
90 DBM
250
40 BC
120 DBM
250
40 BC
140 DBM
250
40 BC
160 DBM
250
50 BC
180 DBM
250
50 BC
210 DBM
250
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
335
335
335
380
380
380
380
380
380
CBR 4%
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
PAVEMENT COMPOSITION
540
Wearing
Binder
20 PC
50 BM
Granular
Base (mm)
225
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
265
580
20 PC
50 BM
250
280
620
25 SDBC
60 DBM
250
285
10
700
40 BC
80 DBM
250
330
20
730
40 BC
110 DBM
250
330
30
750
40 BC
130 DBM
250
330
50
780
40 BC
160 DBM
250
330
100
800
50 BC
170 DBM
250
330
150
820
50 BC
190 DBM
250
330
Page 29 of 57
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
490
530
580
660
690
710
730
750
770
CBR 5%
PAVEMENT COMPOSITIO
Granular
Base (mm)
Wearing
Binder
20 PC
50 BM
225
20 PC
50 BM
250
25 SDBC
55 DBM
250
40 BC
70 DBM
250
40 BC
100 DBM
250
40 BC
120 DBM
250
40 BC
140 DBM
250
50 BC
150 DBM
250
50 BC
170 DBM
250
2
3
5
10
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
450
490
535
615
CBR 6%
Granular
Granular
Base (mm)
Sub-base
Wearing
Binder
(mm)
20 PC
50 BM
225
175
20 PC
50 BM
250
190
25 SDBC
50 DBM
250
210
40 BC
65 DBM
250
260
20
640
40 BC
90 DBM
250
260
30
655
40 BC
105 DBM
250
260
50
675
40 BC
125 DBM
250
260
100
700
50 BC
140 DBM
250
260
150
720
50 BC
160 DBM
250
260
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
20
30
50
100
150
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
215
230
250
300
300
300
300
300
300
Page 30 of 57
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
20
30
50
100
150
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
20
30
50
100
150
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
425
460
505
580
610
630
650
675
695
CBR 7%
Granular
Granular
Base (mm)
Sub-base
Wearing
Binder
(mm)
20 PC
50 BM
225
150
20 PC
50 BM
250
160
25 SDBC
50 DBM
250
180
40 BC
60 DBM
250
230
40 BC
90 DBM
250
230
40 BC
110 DBM
250
230
40 BC
130 DBM
250
230
50 BC
145 DBM
250
230
50 BC
165 DBM
250
230
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
425
450
475
550
575
590
610
640
660
CBR 8%
PAVEMENT COMPOSITIO
Granular
Base (mm)
Wearing
Binder
20 PC
50 BM
225
20 PC
50 BM
250
25 SDBC
50 DBM
250
40 BC
60 DBM
250
40 BC
85 DBM
250
40 BC
100 DBM
250
40 BC
120 DBM
250
50 BC
140 DBM
250
50 BC
160 DBM
250
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
150
150
150
200
200
200
200
200
200
Page 31 of 57
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
2
3
5
10
20
30
50
100
150
Total
Pavement
Thickness
(mm)
425
450
475
540
570
585
605
635
655
CBR 9% & 10%

PAVEMENT COMPOSITIO
Granular
Base (mm)
Wearing
Binder
20 PC
50 BM
225
20 PC
50 BM
250
25 SDBC
50 DBM
250
40 BC
50 DBM
250
40 BC
80 DBM
250
40 BC
95 DBM
250
40 BC
115 DBM
250
50 BC
135 DBM
250
50 BC
155 DBM
250
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
150
150
150
200
200
200
200
200
200
8.1.2 Premix carpet with seal coat over Bituminous Macadam (BM), a rut resistant mix with
relatively higher air void of about 10 to 15%, successfully used in India in the past, is
recommended for the design traffic up to 3 msa. Even on National Highways, BM with a SDBC
has been successfully used in India as per the performance during the Research project R-6.
Stone to stone contact in BM makes it rut resistant. On examination of thickness of the
bituminous layers for different subgrade strength, it is seen that less thickness of bituminous
layers are needed for the subgrade of higher CBR values. For a CBR value of 3, thickness of the
bituminous and the granular layers are respectively 250mm and 630mm whereas for a CBR of
10, thicknesses are respectively 205mm and 450mm.In case granular subbase is not required
from the structural consideration, a synthetic geocomposite layer (GL) may be provide at the
interface of the subgarde and the granular base for filtration/separation and the drainage. The
commercially available GL has a very high horizontal permeability to take away any water that
enters into the pavement from the cracked surface, shoulder and the median
8.2 Design of non-conventional pavements
8.2.1 Bituminous mix with higher fatigue life: Mix design and Bituminous pavement
design can be integrated for getting an optimal design. A detailed computation is
shown in Table 3 for a subgrade Re4silient modulus of 50 MPa corresponding to a
CBR of 5. It can be seen that thickness of bituminous layer with VG40 bitumen in
Column 3 is much lower than that given by IRC:37-2001 with VG30 bitumen both
with 80% reliability. If the reliability level is increased to 90%, the thickness of the
bituminous layer with VG40 is rather large as shown in column 4. For VG30, the
thickness will be much larger If the bottom DBM layer has an air void content of about
3% due to incorporation of additional bitumen of about 0.5 to 0.6%, the pavement
thickness( column 5) is almost same as that give in column 3 for VG40 bitumen.
Page 32 of 57
Larger bitumen film thickness results in a higher fracture life. Hence pavements with higher
reliability can be designed if mix design is integrated with pavement design. The bottom DBM
has to be compacted to an air void of 3% during the construction stage since further compaction
is not likely due to additional DBM and BC layers on the top of bottom DBM.It is to be born in
mind that the wearing course of 40 to 50mm is the sacrificial layer which undergoes weathering,
wear and tear including surface cracking by the traffic and it is to be replaced with a new
wearing course within ten years depending upon the traffic and the climate. Cracks originating
from the bottom can be delayed by the designer by having a fatigue resistant bottom layer.
Appendix II gives equivalence of thickness of bituminous mixes of different stiffness from
flexure consideration.
8.2.2 Bituminous mix with modified binder: Polymer modified binder also can be used to
prepare bituminous mixes which can have a fatigue life as high as ten times that of the mixes
with bitumen of similar viscosity( Witczak).Providing such a mix at the bottom of the
bituminous layer can give a much longer life without additional cost due to reduction in
thickness of the bituminous layer.
Table 3 pavement composition with different binders and reliability

CBR 5%
Cumulative
Traffic (msa)
Thickness of Bituminous Surfacing
,mm
VG30
VG40
VG40
VG40
AV 4.5%
AV 4.5%
AV4.5%
AV 3% for
Reliability
Reliability Reliability
bottom DBM
80%
80%
90%
Reliability 90%
(IRC:37(additional
2001)
binder 0.5% to
0.6%)
Granular
Base (mm)
Granular
Sub-base
(mm)
(6)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(1)
10
110
100
250
300
20
140
120
250
300
30
160
130
165
130(131)
250
300
50
180
145
185
150(148)
250
300
100
200
170(167)
210
175(171)
250
300
150
220
180(182)
230
190(186)
250
300
300
250
210
260
215(213)
250
300
(7)
Page 33 of 57
Note: Figures in bracket indicates computed thickness
Laboratory investigation needs to be done for comparing the conventional and PMB mixes
before using such mixes since different polymers behave differently. A design example is given
in Appendix I.
8.2.3 Bituminous pavements with base of foamed bitumen/ bitumen emulsion treated
WMM/Recycled asphalt pavement: The modulus of the untreated granular consisting of
WMM and GSB is much lower, and the thickness of the bituminous layer shown in the
catalogue of design is substantially high. If WMM is treated with foamed bitumen or with
bitumen emulsion with residual bitumen of about 2%, thickness of the bituminous surfacing can
be reduced substantially as born out from computation as well as South African experience. The
upper part of the GSB with open gradation can be lightly cemented,bituminised to act as a
drainage layer while lower part is the separation layer to prevent the fines from the subgrade
from entering into the drainage layer. A conservative value of the resilient modulus of the
emulsion/foamed bitumen treated WMM and the cementitious GSB may be taken as 600MPa
though the soaked laboratory values are found to be higher. Milled material from oxidised and
damaged bituminous pavements also can be used as a base course after treatment with foamed
bitumen/ bitumen emulsion and its modulus also may be taken as 600 MPa. A design example is
given in Appendix I.
8.2.4 Bituminous pavements with cemented subbase: In regions where aggregates are not
available within a reasonable distance, cemented bases and subbases may be used below the
bituminous layers to cut down the construction cost. A typical section is shown in Figure 5. A
Wet Mix Macadam(WMM) layer is placed over cementitious layer of strength 3Mpa to 4MPa
(AUSTROADS).WMM acts as a cushion for the cracks that may develop in the cementitious
layer. Accelerated pavement tests( ) as well as laboratory tests ( ) indicate that the aggregate
layer can delay the reflection cracks in the bituminous layer and the life of the bituminous layer
as manifested in the form of cracked surface is about five to six times higher with a 100mm
aggregate layer over the cemented base than that without it.The modulus of the aggregate layer
above the cemented subbase can be determined using the Equation 7. It ranges from 400 to
550MPa in the precracking stage of the cementitious layer. Stresses in the mid depth of the
granular layer is to be determined by an elastic layered programme for some initial assumed
value of the modulus of the aggregate layer and the revised modulus value is computed from the
computed stresses using Equation 7. The operation is repeated and the convergence occurs in
three cycles. Computation indicates that a default value of 475 MPa can also be assumed since
aggregate layer laid over cemented bases has a higher modulus due to the confinement from the
above and from the below. Fatigue life of cementitious layer can be computed from the
computed value of the flexural tensile strain caused by the standard axle load of 80kN. A more
Page 34 of 57
scientific method would be to use cumulative fatigue damage principle used in design of rigid
pavements as per IRC: 58.
Bituminous layer
Wet Mix Macadam
Cementitious layer
Drainage layer
Separation layer
Figure 5 Bituminous pavement with
cemented subbase
Fatigue life of the cemented layer is determined from Equation 6. Once cemented layer cracks, it
may be considered as a cracked layer with its modulus reduced to 10% of the uncracked value.
The modulus of the WMM also would reduce because of the reduced modulus of the lower
layer.The remaining life of the bituminous layer can be computed after the fracture of the cement
bound layer. Life of the pavement is sum of the life of cemented and the bituminous layers.An
example given in Appendix I illustrates the method of design of such a pavement
8.2.4 Bituminous pavements with cemented base: The pavement may consist of separation
layer of GSB, lightly cemented/bitumen emulsion treated open graded GSB layer over the
separation layer, cementitious base and the bituminous surfacing.The cement bound base should
have a 28 day strength limited to 4 to 6MPa so that fine cracks at closer intervals develop in the
cemented layer due to shrinkage and thermal contraction, and therefore,the cracks propagating
to the bituminous surfacing also would be fine insuring load transfer through aggregate interlock
while remaining impervious to water.Modulus and the fatigue life of the cemented layer can be
determined from Equations 4 and 6.As per the international experience, a minimum thickness of
the bituminous layer for the design traffic greater than 20 msa should be 100mm to prevent faster
propagation of cracks from the cemented layer to the bituminous layer. A SAMI layer using
PMB/CRMB should be provided at the interface of the cemented and the bituminous layers to
Page 35 of 57
delay crack propagation to the upper layer.A typical successful application of SAMI by
CALTRAN in California( ) is 2.5 to 3.0 litre of CRMB containingg 20% crumb rubber with 9
mm nominal size aggregates at the interface of cemented layer and the bituminous layer. A
design example is given in Appendix I.
9. Internal drainage in Pvaement
9.1. The performance of a pavement can be seriously affected if adequate drainage

measures to prevent accumulation of moisture in the pavement structure are not taken.
Some of the measures to guard against poor drainage conditions are maintenance of
transverse section in good shape to reasonable crossfall so as to facilitate quick run-off
of surface water and provision of appropriate surface and sub-surface drains where
necessary. Drainage measures are especially important when the road is in cutting or
built on low permeability soil or situated in heavy rainfall/snow fall area.
9.2. On new roads, the aim should be to construct the pavement as far above the
water table as economically practicable. The difference between the bottom of
subgrade level and the level of water table/high flood level should, however, not be
less than 1.0m. In water logged areas, where the subgrade is within the zone of
capillary saturation, consideration should be given to the installation of suitable
capillary cut-off as per IRC:34 at appropriate level underneath the pavement.
9.3. When the traditional granular construction is provided on a relatively low
permeability subgrade, the granular sub-base should be extended over the entire
formation width in order to drain the pavement structural section. Care should be
exercised to ensure that its exposed ends do not get covered by the embankment soil.
The trench type section should not be adopted in any case as it would lead to the
entrapment of water in the pavement structure.
9.4 If the granular sub-base is of softer variety which may undergo crushing during
rolling leading to denser gradation and low permeability, the top 100 to 150 mm
thickness should be substituted by an open graded crushed stone layer of Los Angeles
abrasion value not exceeding 40 to ensure proper drainage.
The filter layer must have enough permeability to prevent development of undesirable pore water
pressure and it should drain away any free water that enters into it albeit at much lower rate as
compared to the drainage layer
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The filter layer should satisfy the following criteria:
D15 of filter layer

5
D15 of subgrade
D15 of filter layer

5
D85 of subgrade
To prevent entry of soil particles into the drainage layer

And
D50 of filter layer
25
D50 of subgrade
D85 means the size of sieve that allows 85 per cent by weight of the material to pass
through it. Similar is the meaning of D50, D15 and D2.
The permeable sub-base when placed on the erodible subgrade soil should be
underlain by a layer of filter material to prevent the intrusion of soil fines into the drainage
layer (Figure 7). Non-woven geosynthetic also can be provided to act as a filter/
separation layer. Some typical drainage system is illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and8.
9.5 When large inflows are to be taken care of, an adequately designed sub-surface
drainage system consisting of an open graded drainage layer with collection and outlet
pipes should be provided. The system should be designed on a rational basis using
seepage principles to estimate the inflow quantities and the outflow conductivity of the
drainage system. It should be ensured that the outflow capabilities of the system are at
least equal to the total inflow so that no free water accumulates in the pavement
structural section. If granular subbase is not required because of strong subgrade,
commercially available geocomposite can be used for drainage and separation. A
design example is given in Appendix IV
9.6. Very often, water enters the base, sub-base or the subgrade at the junction of
the verges and the bituminous surfacing. To counteract the harmful effects of this
water, it is recommended that the shoulders should be well-shaped and if possible,
constructed of impermeable material. Major highways should have paved shoulder to
keep away water from the subgrade and for other roads also with design traffic of 20
msa or less, the base should be constructed 300-450 mm wider than the required
Page 37 of 57
bituminous surfacing so that the run-off water disperses harmlessly well clear off the
main carriageway.
9.8. Shoulders should be accorded special attention during subsequent maintenance
operation too. They should be dressed periodically so that they always conform to the
requisite cross-fall and are not higher than the level of carriageway at any time.
Drainage layer open graded

Carriageway
Filter layer
Shoulder
Seal
seal
Water flow
Water Table
Drainage material
Water table
Synthetic fabric
Perforated pipe
Fig 6 Pavement along a slope
Pavement Layers
shoulder
End 0.5m stabilized

with 2.5% emulsion or
2%cement
Sub grade
Drainage layer
Filter layer
Fig.7 pavement with filter and drainage layers

Page 38 of 57
Sub base
Outlet
Open graded base
pipe
Fig 8 Longitudinal pipe at the edge of the drainage layer with outlet pipe
9.9 Drainage requirement: Heavy axle loads commonly ply on major roads in India and
therefore, it should be ensured that the unbound layers do not undergo unacceptable permanent
deformation under repeated loading. The sub grade and the granular layers with entrapped water
would be subjected to large permanent deformation under heavy loads causing erosion of the
unbound layer. It is necessary to provide a drainage layer to drain away the water entering into
the pavement. The coarse graded granular subbase (MORTH) would have the necessary
permeability of 300m/day with percent fines passing 0.075mm sieve less than 2%. If the surface
of the open graded drainage layer is likely to be disturbed by the construction traffic the layer
may be treated with 2% cement/2-2.5% of bituminous emulsion without any significant loss of
permeability. Field test by Ridgeway in USA indicated that it is the duration of low intensity
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sustained rainfall rather than high intensity rainfall that is critical for infiltration of water into the
pavement. It was found that the infiltration rate through the joints/cracks was 0.223 m3/day/m
and this value can be used for design of drainage layer in the absence of field data. The
infiltration rate per unit area qi can be expressed as
qi= Ic(
in which Ic is the crack infiltration rate,
is the number of longitudinal joints/cracks,
is the
width of pavement subjected to infiltration, is the length of the transverse cracks or joints,
is the spacing of transverse joints and
is the rate of infiltration through uncracked pavement
surface, which is almost negligible for PCC. Cedergren recommended design infiltration rates
above 50% of the 1hour rainfall of 1 year frequency. The computed value is found to be too high
and the Ridgeway method can be adopted for design of drainage layer. An example is given in
Appendix ?
10. DESIGN IN FROST AFFECTED AREAS
10.1. In areas susceptible to frost action, the design will have to be related to actual
depth of penetration and severity of the frost. At the subgrade level, fine grained clayey
and silty soils are more susceptible to ice formation, but freezing conditions could
also develop within the pavement structure if water has a chance of ingress from above.
10.2. One remedy against frost attack is to increase the depth of construction to
correspond to the depth of frost penetration, but this may not always be economically
practicable. As a general rule, it would be inadvisable to provide total thickness less
than 450 mm even when the CBR value of the subgrade warrants a smaller thickness. In
addition, the materials used for building up the crust should be frost resistant.
10.3. Another precaution against frost attack is that water should not be allowed to
collect at the subgrade level which may happen on account of infiltration through the
pavement surface or verges or due to capillary rise from a high water table.
Whereas capillary rise can be prevented by subsoil drainage measures and cut-offs,
infiltrating water can be checked only by providing a suitable wearing surface.
Annexure 1
WORKED EXAMPLES ILLUSTRATING
THE DESIGN METHOD
( i) Bituminous pavements with untreated granular layer
Page 40 of 57
Example - l: Design the pavement for construction of a new flexible pavement with
the following data:
DATA
(i)
Four lane divided carriageway
(ii)
Initial traffic in the year of completion of construction
= 4000 CV/day
(sum of both directions)

(iii)
Traffic growth rate per annum
=6.0 per cent
(iv)
Design life
=15 years
(v)
Vehicle damage factor

(Based on axle load survey)
= 4.5
(vi)
CBR of soil below the 500mm of the subgrade
(vi)
CBR of the 500mm of the subgrade from borrow pits =10%
= 3%
DESIGN CALCULATIONS
(i)
Distribution factor
(ii)
Initial traffic
= 0.75
= 2000 CVPD assuming 50% in each
direction
(ii)
Cumulative number of standard axles to be catered for in the design
N
(iii)
2000 365 (1 0.06) 20

0.75 4.5 132msa say 130 ma
0.06
CBR of the embankment material=3%,CBR of 500mm of subgrade= 10%,
Effective CBR of the subgrade from Figure 1= 7%

Design resilient modulus of the compacted subgrade =17.6(7)0.64=62MPa
(iv) thickness of granular layer: WMM=250mm,GSB=300mm

Resilient moduls of granular layer= 0.2 x (550)0.45 x62=212 Mpa
(v) Total thickness of conventional bituminous layer with VG30 bitumen using FPAVE
software( 80% reliability) =200mmm
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(vi) Total thickness of conventional bituminous layer with VG40 bitumen(80%

reliability)=170mm
(vii)Total thickness of conventional bituminous layer with VG30 bitumen(90%
reliability)=250mm
(viii) Total thickness of conventional bituminous layer with VG40 bitumen(90%
reliability)=210mm
(ix)Total thickness of bituminous layer with VG40 bitumen(90% reliability) with bottom layer
having an air void of 3% and volume of bitumen about13%=170mm
(x) If polymer modified mix is laid in the bottom with o.5 to 0.6% higher binder content, the
fatigue life of the mix is four times higher than the corresponding conventional mix with VG30
binder. Moduli of PMB mixes and conventional mixes with VG30 are almost the same. For
average annual pavement temperature of 35 0C, the total thickness of the bituminous layer with
PMB 40 mix =146mm at 80% reliability against a total of 200mm of mix with VG30 bitumen
for the same reliability.
Designers can develop innovative design based on fatigue Equations 11,12 and13.For the
given thickness of granular bases and subbases in the catalogue of design, computation for
development of rutting in subgrade on the basis of Equation 5 is not necessary. Analytical
approach f or the computation for permanent deformation duly calibrated from field
performance for Indian condition is not yet available.
(ii)Bituminous pavements with base of foamed bitumen/ bitumen emulsion treated
WMM/Recycled asphalt pavement
Effective Subgrade CBR=7%
MR value of the subgrade
= 62MPa
After a few trials, following thickness satisfies the design criteria of fatigue in
bituminous layer and vertical subgrade strain value
BC with VG40=115mm
Emulsion/foamed bitumen treated WMM/RAP= 150mm
Granular subbase for drainage and separation= 300mm
The moduli of different layers are as follows
Modulus of Bituminous layer=3000 MPa
Modulus of treated base
= 600 MPa
Modulus of subbase =62 x 0.2 x(300)^0.45 =161 MPa

Pavement life=130 msa
The granular subbase offers a strong platform for the construction traffic
Page 42 of 57
For different traffic,subgrade modulus and availability of materials, optimization can

be done to obtain a cost effective pavement.Fatigue resistant bituminous mix can
increase the reliability for the same thickness.
If VG30, bitumen is used, its thickness is nearly 115(3000/1700)^0.333=138mm
The standard design as per IRC:37-2001 is BC=50mm,DBM=155mm,WMM=250mm
GSB=230mm
This can be easily verified from the elastic layered programmes
( iii) Bituminous pavement with cemented subbase
Design traffic as above 132 msa( say 130 msa)
Select a trial section
Bituminous layer with VG30=150mm
WMM
= 150mm
Cemented layer with 3 MPa UCS = 150mm

(E value is 3000MPa)
Granular layer for drainage and separation = 250mm
Effective CBR of the subgrade=7, MR value
= 62MPa
MR value of the granular layer= 62 x 0.2 x (250)^0.45=149 MPa

Tensile strain in the cemented layer as per FPAVE=67 microstrain
Pavement life=856 msa Oversafe, The tensile strain in the bituminous layer also is
low.
Take Bituminous layer thickness =100mm

The pavement life is 138 msa from consideration of cracking of the cemented layer
and 97 msa from that of the bituminous layer.The bituminous slayer cracks before the
cemented layer.
Take BT layer as 120 mm and GSB as 230mm
E of granular layer=143 MPa
The life of the bituminous layer is 120msa and that of the cemented layer is higher
than 138msa
If the thickness is revised to 125mm, the pavement is safe from fatigue of the
bituminous and as well as the cemented layers.
The final thickness is BT=125( BC50+DBM75), WMM=150mm,Cemented
Page 43 of 57
layer=150mm, GSB=230mm. Cemented layer can be made from GSB stabilized with
a suitable stabilizer. Thus optimization can be done.To save time, designers can
develop their own software to optimize the design in a short time considering the
availability of materials. Using fatigue resistant mix would give better performance
and reduced cost.
(iii) Bituminous pavement with cemented subbase

Design traffic=130 msa
Trial 1
Thickness
Bituminous(VG30) top=125mm, Cemented base of UCS 5 MPA(modulus=5 x
1000=5000MPa)=180mm,
GSB=300mm
Effective CBR of the subgrade=7, MR value
= 62MPa
Modulus of subbase =62 x 0.2 x(300)^0.45 =161 MPa

Considering poissons ratio of 0.35 for all the layers except for the cemented layer for
which a value of 0.25 may be aadopted. A change in the poissons ratio from 0.35 to
0.50 for the bituminous layer increases the tensile strain by less than 1.5 percent.
The above trial section fails due to high tensile strain in the cemented layer. After a
number of trials, the following was found to be safe.
Bituminous layer =150mm, Cemented layer=200mm,GSB=300mm.
Pavement with VG40
Bituminous layer=125, cemented layer=200mm, GSB=300mm
The fatigue life of the cemented layer is 155 msa. Even a 10mm reduction in thickness
brings down the fatigue life close to 120msa
The tensile strain in the cemented layer=64.6 microstrain while that in the BT is
compressive only.The contribution of the bituminous layer may be neglected since it
fractures fast after the fatigue cracking of the cemented layer
A SAMI layer consisting of 2.5 to 3 litres of PMB/CRMB per sq.m. and 10mm
aggregates will give good margin of safety against propagation of cracks into the
bituminous layer.Minimum crumb rubber content should be over 15%.
Page 44 of 57
Annexure-II
Equivalence of thickness of bituminous mixes of different moduli
Two compacted bituminous mixes are approximately of equal flexural strength if
their moduli and thickness are related as
E1H13/12(1-12) = E2H23/12(1-22)
Where,
E, H1,u1, and E2, H2,u2 are the Elastic Modulus, Thickness and
Poisson's Ratio of the two mixes.These can be used in estimation
of quantities for cost comparision
Example Convert 180mm of DBM with VG30 into that with VG$0
180 mm DBM with VG30=
180x( 1700/3000)0.333=150 mm DBM with VG40 bitumen
Though bending behavior may be comparable, rutting will be reduced with
stiffer bitumen. Analysis indicates that rutting of mixes with VG40 bitumen is
half of that with VG30 bitumen
Annexure III
PREPARATION OF LABORATORY TEST SPECIMENS
GENERAL
1. Wherever possible, the test specimens should be prepared by static compaction, but
if not possible, dynamic method may be used as an alternative.
STATIC COMPACTION
2. The weight of wet soil at the required moisture content to give the intended
density when occupying the standard test mould is calculated as follows :
Volume of mould = 2209 cc
Weight of dry soil = 2209 d gm
Page 45 of 57
Where,
d = Required dry density in gm/cc
m = Required moisture content in per cent
3. The soil lumps are broken down and stones larger than 20 mm are removed.
Sufficient quantity of the soil is mixed with water to give the required moisture content.
The correct weight of wet soil is placed in the mould. After initial tamping with a
steel rod, a filter paper is placed on top of the soil, followed by the 5 cm displacer
disc, and the specimen compressed in the compression machine until the top of
the displacer is flush with the top of the collar. The load is held for about 30
seconds and then released. In some soil types where a certain amount of
rebound occurs, it may be necessary to reapply load to force the displacer disc
slightly below the top of the mould so that on rebound the right volume is
obtained.
DYNAMIC COMPACTION
4. The soil is mixed with water to give the required moisture content, and then
compacted into the mould in three layers using a standard soil rammer. After
compaction, the soil is trimmed flush with the top of the mould with the help
of a metal straight edge. The mould is weighed full and empty to enable
determination of wet bulk density, and from it, knowing the moisture content, the dry
density is calculated.
5. Further specimens, at the same moisture content, are then prepared to different
dry densities by varying the number of blows applied to each layer of soil
so that the amount of compaction that will fill the mould uniformly with
calculated weight of wet soil (vide para 2 above) is known.
SPECIAL POINTS RELATING TO DESIGN OF PAVEMENT
ON EXPANSIVE SOILS
Potentially expansive soils, such as, black cotton soils are montmorillonite clays and
are characterized by their extreme hardness and deep cracks when dry and with
tendency for heaving during the process of wetting. Roadbeds made up of such soils
when subjected to changes in moisture content due to seasonal wetting and drying or
due to any other reason undergo volumetric changes leading to pavement distortion,
cracking and general unevenness. In semi-arid climatic conditions, pronounced
short wet and long dry conditions occur, which aggravate the problem of swelling and
shrinkage. Due recognition of these problems at the design stage itself is required so
Page 46 of 57
that counter measures could be devised and incorporated in the pavement

structure. A proper design incorporating the following measures may considerably
minimise the problems associated with expansive soils.
The amount of volume change that occurs when an expansive soil road bed
is exposed to additional moisture depends on the following:
(a) the dry density of the compacted soil
(b) the moisture content
(c) structure of soil and method of compaction
Expansive soils swell very little when compacted at low densities and high
moisture but swell greatly when compacted at high densities and low moisture. Hence,
where the probability of moisture variation in the subgrade is high, it is expedient to
compact the soil slightly wet of the field optimum moisture content(+2%)
determined on the basis of a field trial. Experience shows that generally, it is not
practicable to compact expansive soils at OMC determined by Laboratory Proctor
Test. It is, therefore, necessary to study its field moisture density relationship
through compacting the soil at different moisture contents and under the same
number of roller passes. A minimum density corresponding to 95 per cent of the
standard proctor density should be attained in the field and recommended moisture content
should be. 1-2 per cent wet of optimum moisture content.
Buffer Layer
There is a definite gain in placing the pavement on a non-expansive cohesive soil
cushion of 0.6-1.0 m thickness. It prevents ingress of water in the underlying expansive
soil layer, counteracts swelling and secondly even if the underlying expansive soil
heaves, the movement will be more uniform and consequently more tolerable.
However, where provision of non-expansive buffer layer is not economically
feasible, a blanket course of suitable material and thickness as discussed in para 3 below
must be provided.
Blanket Course
A blanket course of atleast 225mm thickness and composed of
coarse/medium sand or non-plastic moorum having PI less than five should be provided
on the expansive soil subgrade as a sub-base to serve as an effective intrusion barrier.
The blanket course should extend over the entire formation width.
Page 47 of 57
Alternatively, lime-stabilized black cotton sub-base extending over the

entire formation width may be provided together with measures for efficient drainage
of the pavement section.
Annexure IV
Drainage layer
Improvement of drainage can significantly reduce the magnitude of seasonal
heaves. Special attention should, therefore, be given to provision of good drainage
measures. The desirable requirements are:
a. Provision must be made for the lateral drainage of the pavement

structural section. The granular sub-base/base should accordingly be extended
across the shoulders
b. No standing water should be allowed on either side of the road embankment.
c. A minimum height of 1 m between the subgrade level and the highest water level
should be ensured.
Example of design of a drainage layer

Design a granular drainage layer
for a four lane heavy duty divided highway for a
maximum precipitation of 50mm per hour for two-year frequency. Longitudinal slope =
3%, Camber = 2.5% .
Crack infiltration method
Longitudinal Slope 3%
A
Direction of
Flow of
water
Camber
2.5%
Figure 9 Direction of
Flow of Water
Page 48 of 57
Water travels along AD due to camber and the longitudinal slope

Depth of drainage layer = 450mm (Assuming BT=200mm and WMM=250mm)
Width of the drainage layer (one side of the median only)
= 8.5m+1.0m+2x0.45 = 10.4 m
Figure 9, AB = 10.4m, AC = 10.4x0.03/0.025 = 12.48m.
AD = (10.42 + 12.482) 0.5 = 16.24m
Elevation drop along AC = 12 .48x0.03 = 0.374m
Elevation drop along CD = 10.4 x 0.025 = 0.26m
Total drop = 0.634m.
I = 0.634/16.24 = 0.039
qi = Ic[Nc/Wp+Wc/(WpCs)]
Ic=0.223m3/day/m,Nc( centre line and two edges) =3,Wp( paved width+ shoulder)=10.4m,
Wc(crack width)=Wp, Cs( assumed intervals of transverse cracks)=12m for flexible
pavement
qi= 0.083m3/day/m2 .
Amount of water infiltration in pavement per metre along the flow path AD
=0.0.083 x 1 x 16.24=1.35 m3/day=Q
gradient=0.039
Q=KAI, KA=1.35/0.039=34.62
if depth of drainage layer is 100mm
A= 1 x 0.1=0.1m2, K=34.62/0.1 = 346.62 m/day
For major highways in which thick bituminous layer is provided, very little water can enter
initial period of four to five years due to absence of cracking.Rain water may however enter
through pervious median. The AASHTO 93 gradation of the drainage layer is given below
Page 49 of 57
Permeability of Untreated Graded Aggregates as per

AASHTO(1993)
% Passing
Sieve
opening,
Grading 1
Grading 2
Grading 3
Grading 4
Grading 5
Grading 6
20
100
100
100
100
100
100
12.5
85
84
83
81.5
79.5
75
9.5
77.5
76
74
72.5
69.5
63
4.76
58.3
56
52.5
49
43.5
32
2.36
42.5
39
34
29.5
22
5.8
2.00
39
35
30
25
17
0.84
26.5
22
15.5
9.8
0.42
18.2
13.3
6.3
0.25
13.0
7.5
0.105
6.0
0.075
Coeff. Of
permeability
m/day
35
100
350
850
950
Mm
Page 50 of 57
Annexure-V
RECOMMENDED TYPE AND THICKNESS OF

BITUMINOUS WEARING COURSES FOR FLEXIBLE
PAVEMENTS UNDER DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Sl
No.
Type of Base/
Binder
Course
Water Bound
Macadam, Wet
Mix Macadam,
Crusher- runMacadam, Builtup Spray Grout
Bituminous
Macadam
base/binder
course
Dense
Bituminous
Macadam
Type of Bituminous Wearing

Course
(i) 20mm Premix Carpet (PC)

with sand seal coat
(ii) 20mm PC with liquid seal
coat
Low (L)1000 mm
Design
Traffic
(msa)
Medium (M) >1000

and<2000 mm;
High (H) 2000 mm
L and M
<10.0
L,M and H
<10.0
Annual Rainfall
L,M and H
(iii) Mix Seal Surfacing
(MSS)(20mm) Type A or B
(iv) Single/two coat surface
dressing
(i) Semi-Dense Bituminous
Concrete (25mm)
(ii) 20mm PC with liquid seal
coat
(iii) MSS (20mm) Type A or
B
Bituminous Concrete
(i) 25mm
(ii) 40 mm
(iii) 50 mm
<10.0
L,M and H
<10.0
L,M and H
L,M and H
L,M and H
>5<10
10
100
Page 51 of 57
SMA, a rut resistant wearing

course, is suitable for heavy
traffic
Annexure-VI
CRITERIA FOR THE SELECTION OF GRADE OF
BITUMEN FOR BITUMINOUS COURSES
Climate
7 day maximum
average air
temperature 0C 300C
7 day maximum
average air
temperature 0C 400C
7 day maximum
average air
temperature 0C 400C
Traffic (CVD)
1500 commercial
vehicles per day
Bituminous Course
BM,DBM and BC
Grade of Bitumen to
be used
VG10/VG20
For all types of traffic
BM,DBM,SDBC and
BC
VG30
Heavy Loads,
Expressways
BM,DBM, SDBC, BC
VG40 /modified
bitumen
Note: For surfacing dressing,Premix carpet, sand seal coat , VG10,VG20 and VG30 bitumen can be
used.Mix design, selection of grade of bitumen, gradation of aggregates and traffic loading are
interrelated. Local experience is the best guide.The Superpave guidelines on selection of binder can be
adopted if local experience is not available. If the most suitable binder is VG30 for 450 to 1500 CVPD,
VG40 should be selected for higher volume of commercial vehicles. For areas on intersection and traffic
signals, VG40/PMB/SMA would be suitable
Page 52 of 57
REFERENCES
1.
Research Scheme R-56 `Analytical Design of Flexible Pavements' Final Report

submitted to the Ministry of Surface Transport (Roads Wing), March 1999, Civil
Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and West Bengal.
2.
Rao, S. K., Das, J.K. and Roychowdhury, P. (2007), Asphalt Mix Design Refusal Density Approach for
Heavily Trafficked Roads, Journal of Indian Roads Congress, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 53-64.
3.
Sinha,V.K, singh,H.N. and Shekhar,S.(2007), Rutting in Flexible Pavement-A Case Study,

J.of Indian Roads Congress,Vol.68-3,pp.177-191.
4.
Reddy, K.S. (2007), Investigation of Rutting Failure in Some Sections of National Highway-2 Between
KM. 317 and KM. 65, Transportation Engineering Section, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT
Kharagpur, India
5.
Kumar,S.S., Sridhar,R., Reddy,K.S. and Bose,S.(2008),Analytical Investigation on the

Influence of Loading and Temperature on Top-Down Cracking in Bituminous Layers ,J.Indian
Roads Congress,Vol.69-1, pp.71-77.
6.
Panda,M. and M.Mazumdar(1999), Utilisation of Reclaimed Polythene in Paving Mixes

J.Materials in Civil Engineering,ASCE,Vol.14,No.6,pp 527-530.
7.
Palit, S.K., Sudhakar Reddy K. and Pandey B. B. (2004) Laboratory Evaluation of Crumb
modified Asphalt Mixes J. Materials in Civil Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 14,No.1, PP. 527530.
Page 53 of 57
8. Research Scheme R-81(2003),Structual Evaluation of Pavements using

Falling Weight Deflectometer,Indian Insttitue of Technology, Kharagpur and
the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
9. http://www.irc.org.in/ENU/knowledge/research/Pages/MORTHResearchRepor
t.aspx
10. Specifications for Road and Bridge Works (fourth Revision), 2001,
Ministry of Surface Transport (Roads Wing), Published by Indian Roads
Congress, New Delhi.
11. AASHTO(1993) Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington DC.
12. AASHTO 2002(2004),Guide for Mechanistic-Empirical design of New and
Rehabilated PavementNCHRP,TRB,Final Report
13. Development of Methods, such as, Benkelman Beam Method for Evaluation
of Structural Capacity of Existing Flexible Pavements and also for Estimation and
Design of Overlays for Strengthening of Weak Pavements, Research Scheme R-6
of Ministry of Surface Transport (Roads Wing), Final Report submitted by
Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi 1995.
14. Pavement Performance Study of Existing Pavement Sections, Final Report,
Volume-2, submitted to the Ministry of Surface Transport (Roads Wing), Central Road
Research Institute, New Delhi 1994.
15. IRC:81-1997 "Guidelines for Strengthening of Flexible Pavements Using
Benkelman Beam Deflection Technique", Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi.
16. Shell Pavement Design Manual - Asphalt Pavement and Overlays for Road Traffic,
Shell International Petroleum Company Ltd., 1978, London.
17. N.W. Lister and W.D. Powell, `Design Practice for Bitumen Pavements in the United
Kingdom', Proceedings of 611 International Conference on Structural Design of
Asphalt Pavements, Volume 1, 1987.
18. IRC:SP-42 1994, Guidelines for road drainage, Indian Roads Congress,
19. 1994.IRC:SP:50-1997, Guidelines for urban drainage, Indian Roads Congress, 1997
20. Thomson, M.R. and Carpenter, S.H.( 2004 ), Design Principles for Long Lasting HMA Pavements ,
International Conference on Design of Long Lasting Asphalt Pavements, Aubun, Alabama, USA,PP 365384
21. Monismith,C.L., Harvey, J. T., Bressette, T, Suszko, C. and Martin, J.S., The I-710 Freeway
Rehabilitation Project: Mix and Structural Section Design, Construction Considerations, and Lessons
Page 54 of 57
Learned, International Conference on Design of Long Lasting Asphalt Pavements, Aubun, Alabama,
USA,PP. 217-262.
22. Harvey, J. T., Monismith, C.L., Bejarano, M., Tsai, B. W., and Kannekanti, V., Long-Life AC Pavements:
A Discussion of Design and Construction Criteria based on California Experience International
Conference on Design of Long Lasting Asphalt Pavements, Aubun, Alabama, USA,PP. 284-333.
23. http://www.ohio.edu/icpp/upload/Fatigue%20Characteristics%20of%20RBBCarpenter.pdf
24. AUSTROADS(2004), Pavement Design- A guide to structural design of Road
Pavements, Sydney
25. Asphalt Institute(1981),Thickness Design Asphalt Pavement Highways and
Streets,manual series no.1,
26. Shell(1978),Shell Pavement Design Manual-Asphalt Pavements and Overlays for
Road traffic; Shell International Petroleum,London
27. Huang,Y.H.(2004), pavement Analysis and design2 nd Ed.Pearson/education
28. Pavan kumar.G, (2009), Effect of Binders on Fatigue life of Bituminous Mixes, M.Tech
thesis ,IIT Kharagpur
29. Madhava Reddy .N (2009), Fatigue of bituminous concrete over cement treated bases with
crack relief layer of aggregate ,M.Tech thesis ,IIT Kharagpur.
30. Kishna,M(2010) ,Investigations on Long Life Bituminous PavementsM.Tech.theis,IIT
Kharagpur
31. Amaranatha Reddy, M., Sudhakar Reddy, K. and Pandey B.B.(2001), Design CBR of Subgrade
for Flexible Pavements, IRC Highway Research Bulletin No.64, June 2001 pp. 61-69
32. Watanatada T. et al,Vehicle speeds and operating costs- Model for road Planning and
management, World Bank Publication,1987
33. Reddy, K.S.(2005), Top down cracking of bituminous concrete on Godhra-Shamlajee
section of SH-5 in Gujarat
34. IRC:SP:72-2007, Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements for Low Volume Rural
Roads,Indian Roads Congress
35. Jack Van Kirk and Glynn Holleran(2000), Reduced Thickness Asphalt Rubber
Concrete,1st.Int.Conf. World of pavements,Sydney,Australia.
36. Witczak,M.W.,and Mirza,M.A.(1999)Comparison and assessment of fatigue of
Alvaloy Modified Asphalt Mixture with Conventional Asphalt MixturesA technical
report prepared for Dupont,Delaware,University of Maryland.USA
Page 55 of 57
Page 56 of 57
Page 57 of 57

Guidelines For The Design - Irc-37 (Shahbaz Alam)

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THE INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS

American Association of State Highway and

GUIDELINES FOR THE DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

Maximum variation in CBR value

CBR below 500mm

CBR below 500mm

Figure 2 Different layers of a bituminous pavement

Where h=thickness of subbase layer in millimetre

5.2 Base layer

h=thickness of granular subase and granular base,millimeter

(113000 / E 0.804 191) 12

= 2 for others carrying less than 1000 trucks per day

= sum of the principal stresses

1 2 and 3 are the principal stresses in the granular layer

5.3 Bituminous surface layer

Table 1 Resilient Modulus of Bituminous mixes,MPa

BC and DBM for VG10 bitumen

BC and DBM for VG30 bitumen

BC and DBM for VG40 bitumen

BC and DBM for PMB70

BC and DBM for PMB40

BC and DBM for CRMB 55

BC and DBM for CRMB 60

500 MPa at 350C

700 MPa at 350C

WMM/RAP treated with

600 MPa at 350C

Figure 3 Different layers of a flexible pavement

Cracks due to tensile strain

Figure 4 Longitudinal cracks in top bituminous

Where p and v are plastic and elastic strains respectively, N= number of

repetition of axle loads,K and c are constants

(a)Tensile strain during acceleration and

(b)Tensile strain during breaking

6.2.3 Fatigue resistant bituminous layer

Bituminous Macadam has a higher fatigue life, it should contain higher

Fatigue life of a bituminous mixture

Nf = 2.21 * 10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/E]0.854

for bottom up cracking at a

Nf = 0.5161 * C*10-04 x [1/t]3.89 * [1/E]0.854

Va =air void and Vb=volume of bitumen,

E= Resilient modulus of bituminous mix.

Traffic growth rate

7.2.1 Traffic growth rates should be estimated

(2) By establishing econometric models, as per the procedure outlined in IRC:

7.3 Design life

Single axle with dual wheels on either side= (

Tandem axle with dual wheels on either side= (

Tridem axles with dual wheels on either side= (

TABLE 2. INDICATIVE VDF VALUES

More than 1500

Initial traffic volume in terms of

7.5. Distribution of commercial traffic over the carriageway

(iv) Dual carriageway roads

The traffic in the year of completion is estimated using the following

P = Number of commercial vehicles as per last count.

8. PAVEMENT THICKNESS AND COMPOSITION

PAVEMENT DESIGN CATALOGUE

CBR 9% & 10%

Table 3 pavement composition with different binders and reliability

Note: Figures in bracket indicates computed thickness

9. Internal drainage in Pvaement

Nf = 0.5161 * C10-04 x [1/t]3.89 [1/E]0.854