Pavement design

Equivalent standard axle is given by,

ESA=

average axle load

standard axle load

4.5

Where standard axle load is given by 80 kN (8.16 tones)

4.10
8.16

4.5

5.60
8.16

4.5

( ) ( )

ESA for a van=

ESA for van=0.229

Type of vehicle
Van
Bus
Medium goods
vehicle 2 axels
Heavy goods
vehicle 3 axels
4 axel vehicles

Type of vehicle
Van
Bus
Medium goods
vehicle 2 axels
Heavy goods
vehicle 3 axels
4 axel vehicles

Assumptions

Axle 1
4.1
3.82

Axle load
Axle 2
Axle 3
5.6
4.88

5.09

10.66

4.28

7.76

7.12

4.02

4.71

4.38

Axle 4

ESA
0.229
0.132
3.448
1.394

4.15

0.234

ESA of the vehicle

Count of vehicle

type
0.229
0.132

per day
2280
656

3.448

1021

3520.408

1.394

79

110.126

0.234

10

2.34

ESA of the day

522.12
86.592

* Three-wheelers and motorbikes were omitted since they dont exert a high load on to the
road
* Van category includes van, car & jeep
* Bus category includes minibus and large bus
Cumulative number of standard axles (CSNA),
m

CNSA=365
i=1

[ ( 1+ r ) 1 ]
P
n

ri

Where,
Pi
Number of standard axles for design life per day as an average for the first
year after construction for vehicle type i
ri

Rate of growth

Number of types of vehicles

Design life

Modification factor is to accommodate for the fact that majority of some types
vehicles travel only in one direction of the road. They dont use the other direction that much.
Rate of growth was determined using the total vehicle population data available in the
website of Department of Motor Traffic.

Year

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Van

57768
4

58472
6

61951
0

71091
4

77985
7

83284
0

89241
9

103750
3

Bus

81050

81789

84280

88528

91623

93428

97279

101419

26624
9

27425
5

28535
1

29837
0

30909
8

31376
2

31778
3

323455

25302
7

26692
5

28489
0

30668
2

32657
4

33825
1

34629
2

357693

42823

44156

46457

49578

53020

55286

57298

59426

Medium
goods vehicle
2 axels
Heavy goods
vehicle 3
axels
4 axel
vehicles

Type of vehicle

Van

Bus

MG

HG

4-axel

Kegalle to Polgahawela
Polgahawela to Kegalle

1959
2006

550
591

920
856

10
128

10
7

Total

3965

1141

1776

138

17

Modification factor 1
Modification factor 2

0.506
0.494

0.518
0.482

0.482
0.518

0.928
0.072

0.412
0.588

Assumptions
* Highest fraction of the two values are taken as the modification factor for each vehicle type
Design life of the road design took as 15 years.

Type of vehicle
Van
Bus
Medium goods
vehicle 2 axels
Heavy goods
vehicle 3 axels
4 axel vehicles

ESA per

Modification

day
522.12
86.592

factor
0. 506
0. 518

Pi

ri %

CNSA

264.19
44.85

8.832
3.263

2794206.6
310440.4

3520.408

0. 518

1823.57

2.827

12223332.7

110.126

0. 928

102.20

5.086

810165.1

2.34

0. 588

1.38

4.802

10676.6

CSNA
Cumulative number of standard axles over 15 years

16148821
= 16148821
= 1.61 106

Soil description: Brown coarse sand with some of clay and gravel
Accepted CBR value from the test data

= 14%

According to Road Note 31 guidelines

Traffic class

= T4

Subgrade strength class

= S4

A granular road base with a surface dressing is proposed for the road

Surface dressing

- Asphalt

Granular road base (GB1) - Fresh, crushed rock (dense graded, un-weathered crushed
stone, non-plastic parent fines)
Granular sub-base

- Natural gravel with CBR (after soaking) > 30%

References
1. Access Engineering PLC. (2016). Laboratory Test Report - CBR Soaked Test.
Polgahawela: Winico Engineering (Pvt.) Ltd.
2. Department of Motor Traffic. (2016, February 25). Statistics. Retrieved August 03,
2016, from DMT:
http://www.motortraffic.gov.lk/web/images/stories/document/pop2015.pdf
3. Transport and Road Research Laboratory. (1984). Road note 31: a guide to the
structural design of bitumen surfaced roads in tropical and subtropical countries.