Introduction to Pavement Design

There are four types of pavement currently in use in the United

kingdom at present:
Flexible - pavements with a bitumen bonded surfacing and
roadbase.
Flexible Composite - The surfacing and upper road base
are bituminous on a lower roadbase of cement bound
material
Rigid - Pavements with a concrete surface slab which can be
un-reinforced, joint reinforced or continuously reinforced.
Rigid Composite - continuously reinforced concrete slab
with a bituminous overlay.
Although there has been considerable advance in the theoretical
design of pavements, most of the current work is based on
empirical methods and design charts. For this reason only these
methods will be covered in these pages.
Normally a design is carried out for each of the alternatives and
then the most economical chosen. However, if for environmental
or technical reasons one is impractical then it may be omitted.
The general form of the different types of pavement is shown
below. It can be seen that common to all types of construction is
the Sub-base and subgrade. It is this aspect of the design which is
treated first. However, it is first necessary to decide on a failure
criteria on which to base the design.
Failure Criteria
This has been the subject of extensive research and is the result
not of theory but of full scale tests and observations of real life
situations.Croney1 states that permanent deformation in the near
side wheel tracks of a flexible pavement of 20mm, when
1 1) D. Croney, "Failure Criteria for Flexible Pavements", Proceedings Third International
Conference on Structural Design of Asphalt Pavements, University of Michigan, 1972.

measured from a 1.8m straight rule, was normally accepted as

the point at which reconstruction was considered necessary.
It was also noted that at this point the surface was beginning to
crack. This led to water ingress and subsequently rapid
deterioration.
The critical condition was much harder to define although it was
found generally that overlays were being provided between
deformations of 10 and 20mm. Cracking at these points was
generally limited to longitudinal cracks in the wheel tracks.
The advantage of this method is that it is easily measured by
visual inspection and a straight edge.
Methods used in the United States including asking passing
motorists to rate the trafficability between 0 and 5 and a slope
variance device.Salter2 contains more information on both these
methods as well as other relevant ones.

The roadbase and sub-base are generally only divided into upper
and lower for highly trafficked roads.
The nest step is the foundation design. This can be found by
following the link below.

2 2) R. J. Salter, "Highway Design and Construction", MacMillan Education,

London, 1988.

Pavement Design - Foundation

Design
The Purpose of the foundation is to transfer the loading from the
road to the soil or subgrade. The foundation for the purpose of
these pages is defined as the sub-base and any associated
strengthening materials used. The procedure described in this
page is that in the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Volume
7

Introduction
The main purpose of the foundation is to distribute the applied
loads to the underlying subgrade, without causing distress to
either the foundations, the overlying layers or the subgrade.
The critical condition for a pavement foundation is whilst carrying
the construction traffic as, whilst the repetitions are low, the
stresses are applied direct to the foundation. Standard foundation
design is thus to design for the construction traffic. That is the
method described below.

Assessment Methods
The first step in the design of the foundations depends on the
situation that is causing the design.
If the road is new then the first step is the assessment of the
subgrade on which the road is to be built. This is described in the
next section and is essential to the design. If this is not carried out
correctly then the information on which the designs are based
may be incorrect.
If the road is a not a new road then the first step is the
assessment of the existing foundations. This is described later on
in the chapter and is the same procedure as the compliance
testing for a new road.

Subgrade Strength

The strength of the subgrade (soil below the pavement) is

assessed using a test known as the California Bearing Ratio test.
This was developed in California in the 1930's and makes no
attempt to determine any of the standard soil properties such as
density. It is merely a value and it is integral to the process of
road design. Nearly all design charts for the road foundations are
based on the CBR value for the subgrade.

California Bearing Ratio

The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is a measure of the supporting
value of the subgrade. It is not unique and other tests such as the
R-Value test and the Triaxial are used occasionally. It is however
by far the most commonly used in Pavement Design. The CBR test
should be used with soil at the calculated equilibrium moisture
content (see below) although in the United States it is usual for
samples to be soaked for 4 days prior to testing.
To determine the CBR for a soil the designer has two options, they
can either use the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test if equipment
is available or they can use the table below to estimate the CBR.

The CBR should be carried out in accordance with BS 13772

The test involves the equipment shown below. The plunger is then
seated into the soil using a force of 50N for an expected CBR
below 30% or 250N for greater than 30%. The plunger is then
penetrated into the soil at a constant rate of 1mm/min and the
forces recorded at penetration intervals of 0.25mm. The total
penetration should not exceed 7.5mm. These results are then
compared to a standard curve for a value of 100% CBR. The
forces on the standard curve are 13.2kN at 2.5mm penetration
and 20.0kN at 5.0mm penetration. The CBR is then a simple ratio
of the corresponding values and where a difference between the
value at 2.5mm and 5mm occurs, the higher value is taken.
Annular weights are sometimes used to represent a surcharge.

The first factor affecting the performance of the subgrade is the

moisture content. Unfortunately this is normally extremely
variable as water can come from many sources such as rainfall,
capillary action, seasonal movement of the water table and
ingress.
The importance of the moisture content is demonstrated by the
variation of the CBR values as shown below. This is a plot of a
typical soil sample values of CBR against moisture content. Thus
the soil sample should have the moisture content re assessed
after the test is performed and compared to the desired value.
Figure 3 shows how the CBR value of a soil varies with the
moisture content.

Croney and Bulman1 used thermodynamic principles to define

three categories into which the subgrade moisture conditions can
be placed. These allow the relevant value of moisture content to
be used when assessing the soils under laboratory conditions.
Under conditions of rainfall and evaporation such that the water
table forms within 5m of the surface. Edge effects are small and
the situation is achieved by a combination of drainage and
capillary effects. This allowed the estimation of the water content
for different water table levels. This is typical of a temperate
climate with moderate evaporation or on the flood pains of rivers.
The United Kingdom generally falls into this category.
The water table is greater than 5m but for several months of the
year rainfall exceeds moisture loss by evaporation and
transpiration. The moisture content is thus cyclical and depends
on the permeability of the soil. This is typical of a hot climate with
high seasonal rainfall.
Dry climates where the rainfall has little effect on the water table
and the moisture content may be assumed to be close to that in
the surrounding uncovered soil.
This is however a subjective method and not widely used. In
America, the standard practice is to assume a saturated sample
and test as such. As can be seen from Figure 3, this has a

tendency to underestimate the CBR and thus to overdesign the

foundation.
Standard practice in the United Kingdom is to assess the soil at
the optimum moisture content. This is done using the procedure
below.
Plot the dry density of the soil against moisture content.
This will give you the optimum moisture content, that is the
peak of the curve.
Plot the CBR against moisture content graph
The CBR value carried forward to the design is that at the
optimum moisture content.
An example of this can be found in the problems page below.

Capping & Sub-base Design

Once the CBR value has been determined, it is then possible to
design the actual capping and Sub-base layers. Capping is used to
protect weak subgrades by using a relatively cheap material
between the subgrade and sub-base
It is not practical to build on a layer whose CBR value is less than
15%. It is therefore necessary to improve this value either by
capping or increasing the thickness of the sub-base. The chart
below shows the two alternatives, each of which are equally
effective and which is used depends on cost and construction
restrictions.

In exceptional circumstances where the CBR value falls below 2%,

a value below which the subgrade would deform under
construction traffic, there are several options open to the
designer:
The material can be removed and replaced with a more
suitable material. The thickness replaced is typically
between 0.5m and 1.0m. Irrespective of the quality of the
new material a CBR value of just under 2% should be
assumed for the subgrade.
For cohesive soils, it may be possible to treat the soils using
lime. The sub-base and capping is again designed assuming
a subgrade CBR of just under 2%.
For a reasonably permeable soil the drainage system may be
lowered and the results monitored. The main foundation
should then be designed assuming the achievable
conditions.

For subgrades with CBR values of 15% and above the sub-base
should have a standard thickness of 150mm, a value determined
as the minimum practical for spreading and compaction.
For subgrades with CBR values in excess of 30% and a low water
table or hard rock subgrades then the sub-base may be omitted.
When designing a road of some length, it is not advisable to
frequently vary the foundation thickness but rather select an
appropriate value for each significant change in the subgrade
properties.

Drainage and Frost Protection

It is vitally important to keep moisture out of the sub-base,
capping and subgrade both during the construction and during
the life of the pavement. This is achieved by excluding incoming
water and providing a drainage path for water already in the
foundation.
This is achieved by placing a granular aggregate drain or drainage
blanket. Where a drain is used, it should be below the bottom of
the capping. The finished design should always slope towards the
drain. There are circumstances where drains are not necessary
and reference should be made to the Design Manual for Roads
and Bridges if this is a possibility
All materials used should be non-frost-susceptible. More
information on the susceptibility to frost can come from the
Design Manual for Roads and Bridges and from the Meteorological
Office.

Compliance Testing
Of you are designing the repairs to an existing road then this is
the start point for you design. If you are designing the foundation
for a new road then you will need to test the foundation to show
that it will perform as desired. The tests used all comply with BS
1377 and reference should be made to this manual before any
tests are carried out.
In Situ Testing

The following tests should be used in determining the compliance

of the foundation to the required standard or for testing the
existing road surface. Failure of these tests may indicate either
that the specified method of construction was not followed, that
the materials used were sub-standard, that damage has occurred
or that abnormal conditions were encountered and not allowed
for.
Moisture Condition Value (MCV)- This test involves
compaction of soil or fine aggregates using a hand held
device. The compactive effort can be compared to that
needed at the optimum moisture content. This enables a
comparison with the actual moisture content of the soil.
Density Testing - This can be either sand replacement or
Nuclear Density. They are both time consuming but allow
comparisons with actual density and Laboratory values to be
made.
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) - This is explained in more
detail in the section above.
Clegg Hammer - This is sometimes referred to as a dynamic
CBR and is an extremely rapid test. A comparison has been
made to the CBR values and as such is useful in finding
weak spots in the paving or foundation.
Cone Penetrometers - Again enable rapid assessment of
approximate CBR values to within 5 to 6%.
Plate Bearing Test - This equipment enables the user to
determine the Elastic Modulus of the pavement or
foundation. It's use is discussed in the Specification of
Highway Works document3.