Road Pavement Failure That Related With Soil Behaviour at

Jalan Parit Sempadan Laut

Muhammad Faris Danial Bin Malikhazulkifli1, Muhammad Rafizal Bin Md
Rosli1, Mira Madihah Binti Khairul Anuar1, Nur Sahirah Binti Sabtu1, Sarah
Yasmien Binti Zakaria1,*
1
Department of Civil Engineering and Environmental
Tun Hussein Onn University of Malaysia, Batu Pahat 86400, MALAYSIA.

Abstract: Pavement failure may be cause be many factors. This study has been taking place in the area Jalan Parit
Sempadan Laut, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor. In this study the student has to find the failure pavement and the
student were told to do the study on pavement failure that related with soil behaviour. One of the pavement failure has
to be identified in order to study about the soil properties that can be cause of pavement failure. This study also have
been to detail out about the soil properties that contribute to the failure of the pavement which conclude about the
factor of the pavement failure. The treatment also was concluded in this study in order to find the solution to this
issues about the failure of pavement. Therefore this solution are required to improve the strength of the soil and
prolong the useful life and durability of the road.

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 OBJECTIVE

Surface transport system is important in rapid
development of any country. A high quality of road
network system maximize its benefits to the society and
facilitates to achieve the economic growth of the country.
Pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an
area intended to foot traffic such as road or railway. In the
past cobblestone and granite setts were extensively used,
but these surface have been replaced by asphalt or
concrete. The pavement structure normally consist of a
few layers of strong materials to ensure the stability of
traffic loads. Asphalt deteriorates when weather and
traffic wears fines aggregates away. When the fines are
worn away, there is nothing to bind the larger aggregates
together and the surface begins to unravel. The weakness
of the pavement section and eventually allows water to
penetrate the sub grade which lead to pavement failure.
Other than that, soil behaviour also can lead to
pavement failure. Type of soil properties has three type,
which physical properties, chemical properties and
biological properties. In the physical properties that can
lead to pavement failure is water holding capacity,
drainage rate, cohesion between particles of soil, organic
material of content, and shrink and swell potential of soil.
The chemical properties is pH of soil, nutrient availability
and organic matter content also maybe can lead to
pavement failure. And for biological properties is
microbial biomass and earthworm population. This study
was done is to find the pavement failure that related with
soil behaviour.
1. To identify the location of pavement distress around
the place chosen.
2. To determine the types of pavement failure.
3. To evaluate the possible causes of pavement
distresses.
4. To understand the pavement failure mechanism.
1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY
Site observation of flexible pavement distress along
the Jalan Parit Sempadan Laut, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat,
Johor indicates frequent occurrence of small, bowl-
shaped depressions in the pavement surface that penetrate
all the way through the layer down to the base course.
They generally have sharp edges and vertical sides near
the top of the hole. However, due to the complexity of tire
and pavement interaction resulting from the tire geometry
and loading conditions, the accurate and fully
representative distribution of surface stresses remains
partly unknown. The study of flexible pavement distress
is advantages for the highway engineers because of the
following reasons:
a) The knowledge about pavement distress enables
us to gain more knowledge in efficiency and
high performance pavement.
b) Therefore, the high performance pavement
ensures efficient traffic flown and safety to the
passengers.
c) Other than that, the study of pavement distress in
that area helps in the improvement in design of
the pavement which may be so more effective in
the area.

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2.0 PAVEMENT FAILURE
Pavement deterioration or pavement failures are the
process which defects the pavements due to the effects of
traffic loading and environmental conditions. There are
four major categories of pavement failures which is
cracking, surface deformation, disintegration and surface
defects. The details for the pavement failures are stated
below.
2.1 CRACKING
There are seven most common types of cracking on
the pavement which is fatigue cracking, longitudinal
cracking, transverse cracking, block cracking, slippage
cracking, reflective cracking, and edge cracking. From
our case study, the types of pavement cracking are fatigue
cracking.
Fatigue cracking is also called as alligator cracking.
This is a series of interconnected cracks that will create
small and irregular cracks of pavements. This is due to
repeated traffic loading. The cracks also will lead to the
disintegration of the surface. When the cracks became
worse, it will produce potholes.
Next is longitudinal cracks. Longitudinal cracks are
long cracks that occur at the centre of the roadway.
Transverse cracking form at approximately right angles to
the centre line of the roadway. Transverse cracks usually
begin as hairline or very narrow cracks on the road. For
block cracking, it is the interconnected series of cracks
that will divided the pavement into irregular pieces. This
sometimes results to longitudinal and transverse cracks
intersecting.
Slippage cracking is a half-moon shape of cracks with
the both ends pointed towards the oncoming vehicles.
These are creates by the horizontal forces of from traffic.
Then, reflective cracking also occurs when a pavement is
overlaid with hot mix asphalt concrete and the cracks will
reflects up through the new surface. For edge cracking,
the edge cracks will start as crescent shape at the edge of
the pavement. It will expand from the edge until they
began to produce fatigue cracking.
2.2 SURFACE DEFORMATION
In surface deformation, there are five basic types of
surface deformation which is rutting, corrugation,
shoving, depressions and swell. Rutting is commonly a
failure of one or more layers in the pavements. It is the
displacement of pavements materials that creates
channels in the wheel path. Next, corrugation.
Corrugation commonly occurs at which vehicles
accelerates and decelerates. Corrugation also referred to
wash boarding because the surface of the pavements has
become distorted like a washboard. For shoving, shoving
is a plastic movement of the asphalt concrete surface
layers that will creates a localized bulging of the
pavements. Depressions are small, localized bowl-shaped
area that may include cracking. Swell is also a localized
upward bulge on the pavement surface.
2.3 DISINTEGRATION
There are two common types of disintegration
which is potholes and patches. Potholes are small, bowl
shaped area on the pavement that penetrate all the way
through hot mix asphalt layer down to the base course.
Generally, it have sharp edges and vertical sided near the
top of the holes. Next is patches. Patches is an area of
pavement that has been replaced with a new materials to
repair the existing pavements. This patches also called a
defects because it never completely meshes with the
existing pavements.
2.4 SURFACE DEFECTS
There are three most common types of surface
defects which is ravelling, bleeding and polishing.
Ravelling occurs due to the loss of materials from the
pavement surface as a results of insufficient adhesion
between asphalt, cement and aggregates. It usually occurs
at older pavements that have already oxidized. For
bleeding, it occurs when the bituminous mix contains too
much asphalt cement relative to the aggregates. This can
reduce the skid resistance of the pavements and making
the pavements very slippery when it wets and it will
create hazard for the road users.
3.0 FACTORS THAT CAUSES OF
PAVEMENT FAILURE
A pothole is a depression in a road surface, this
pavement failure happens where traffic has removed
broken pieces of the pavement. This is because water in
the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over has
affecting the area. The water has weak the underlying soil
and it give the affect to traffic that will break the poorly
supported asphalt surface in the affected area. Besides,
the pavement fatigue is the main reason behind the
formation of potholes.
First, the occurrence of fatigue cracking will
interlock the road or soil structure to form alligator
cracking. The chunks between the crack formed in the
pavement, this will make the pavement become loose and
it will be picked out under continuous loading and
stresses. As alligator cracking becomes severe, the
interconnected cracks create small chunks of pavement
and when the vehicle drive over them the pavement will
be dislodge. Then, the potholes on the pavement will
happened. Overtime, the distress will progress downward
into the lower layers into the pavement and it will make
the vehicles tires are damaged due to large potholes.
Another situation how the potholes begins forming are
rain, sleets and snow work into the soil under pavement
and as thawing occurs, the water runs away and the soil
recedes, creating a hole under the pavement.
Next, the cold-path material poured and spread
into the pothole. The material must pour to a level
approximately half above the surface to allow
compaction. Then, prior compacting material, a liberal
amount of water was spread over patch material to
penetrate and soak into material. Water will activate the
rapid curing mechanism within the patch material. Then,
compact material using suitable compaction method.
2
Water threatens the stability of soil and it is particularly
adverse to pavement structures since they are built
through areas of changeable moisture quantities. It has
been generally established that the increased subgrade
moisture content during spring results in increased
deformability for example decreased bearing capacity of
the pavement.
Finally, potholes are failures on a roadway
surfacing, it is mostly caused by weakness and fatigue of
the surfacing material and can occur anywhere on a
roadway. Potholes will give damage to the vehicles and
dangerous to the road users.
4.0 CASE STUDY
4.1 LOCATION
Figure 1
The study was concentrated on Jalan Parit Sempadan
Laut, Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor as our main location.
This road is located in Pekan Parit Raja which is a town
in Batu Pahat District, Johor Malaysia. An investigation
was conducted in the area revealing the failure on the
road.
Figure 2
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Based on figure 1, Jalan Parit Sempadan Laut is
located near the restaurant and hostel. Pekan Parit Raja
itself is known as centre of hub education because it has
university and we know that students in university is
came from all over the country and makes the population
of people increased thus the number of people who used
the road as their main connector road also increased. In
addition, we had used this road for everyday because it is
a connection road from our hostel to UTHM and it is also
had been used by many types of vehicles which is
becomes one of the factor why we choose the location.
Proper investigation can determine the factor of pavement
failure, how to avoid the pavement failure and the way to
improve the pavement failures.
Figure 3
4.2 PAVEMENT FAILURE RELATED WITH SOIL
PROPERTIES
A pavement is the durable surface material laid down
on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic,
such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and
granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces
have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. The
pavement structure normally consists of a few layers of
strong materials to ensure adequate stability under traffic
loads.
Pavement failure occurs when an asphalt surface no
longer holds its original shape and develops material
stress which causes issues. Pavement failure issues
include cracking, potholes, depressions, rutting, shoving,
upheavals and ravelling. Like any other element of a
property’s improvements, pavement has a natural life
cycle and at some point roads and parking areas will
require maintenance and repair. While most maintenance
and repair can be projected, sometimes pavement fails
prematurely. Such failure can happen over the course of
months or years or it can be very sudden. Because it is an
unplanned expense, many property owners attempt to
contain remediation costs by implementing surface
solutions to pavement problems.
3

Although a pavement's wearing course is most
prominent, the success or failure of the pavement is more
often than not dependent upon the underlying sub grade -
the material upon which the pavement structure is built.
Sub grades can be made of a wide range of materials
although some are much better than others. It is stated in
that a subgrade’s performance generally depends on three
of its basic characteristics (all of which are interrelated):
1. Load bearing capacity
The sub grade must be able to support loads
transmitted from the pavement structure. This
load bearing capacity is often affected by degree
of compaction, moisture content and soil type. A
sub grade that can support a high amount of
loading without excessive deformation is
considered good.
2. Moisture content
Moisture tends to affect a number of sub grade
properties including load bearing capacity,
shrinkage and swelling. Moisture content can be
influenced by a number of things such as
drainage, groundwater table elevation,
infiltration, or pavement porosity (which can be
assisted by cracks in the pavement). Generally,
excessively wet sub grades will deform
excessively under load.
3. Shrinkage and/or swelling
Some soils shrink or swell depending upon their
moisture content. Additionally, soils with
excessive fines content may be susceptible to
frost heave in northern climates. Shrinkage,
swelling and frost heave will tend to deform and
crack any pavement type constructed over them.
The type of soil in our location that we choose is
quaternary sediments deposited. It is refer to geological
deposits typically of quaternary age (less than 2.6 million
years old). These geologically recent unconsolidated
sediments may include stream channel and floodplain
deposits, beach sands, talus gravels and glacial drift and
moraine. Quaternary geology has developed over time
from being originally a branch of historical geology to
becoming a science on its own.
A pavement is said to have failed when it is no l
onger able to absorb and transmit the wheel loading
through the fabric of the road without causing fairly rapid
further deterioration of the road pavement.
Previous researches had shown that roads failed
due to various reasons like negligence of road
maintenance and poor soil properties like low CBR.
Inadequacies in design and poor workmanship, improper
mix proportion, poor quality control during construction,
poor drainage, inadequate thickness of the pavement
section to support the loads that travel across the asphalt
and weak or unstable sub grade components could also
lead to the failure of a pavement. Poor soils can seriously
impede construction of adequate subgrades, as well as
affect the long-term performance of a pavement during its
service life.
Asphalt deteriorates when weather and traffic we
ar fines aggregates away. When the fines are worn away,
there is nothing to bind the larger aggregates together and
the surface begins to unravel. This weakens the pavement
section and eventually allows water to penetrate the sub
grade, which leads to pavement failure. About 90% of the
time when we have pavement failure, it is a problem with
the sub grade. Inadequate support in the base and soil
directly beneath the pavement can cause alligator
cracking and other pavement failures.
4.3 SOIL PROPERTIES
Soils are named and classified on the basis of physical
and chemical properties in their horizons known as layer.
Physical properties of soil consists of colour, texture,
structure, porosity, density, consistence, temperature, and
air. Meanwhile, chemical properties of soil is the
interaction of various chemical constituents that takes
place among soil particles and in the soil solution which
is the water retained by soil. The chemical interactions
that occur in soil are highly complex, but understanding
certain basic concepts will better help to manage turf and
ornamentals.
PHYSICAL SOIL OF PROPERTIES
 Colour Of Soil
Most of us thought soils are brown but the truth is
soil colours range from black to red to white. Sometimes
it can even be blue. Soil colour mostly comes from
organic matter and iron. Topsoil is often dark because of
organic matter. An even, single colour indicates the soil is
well drained. In contrast, rusty spots and grey patches
(sometimes even a light blue in colour) indicate poor
drainage. Colours of soils vary widely and indicate such
important properties as organic matter, water, and redox
conditions.
 Texture Of Soil
Soil texture is one of the properties that is related
with types of soil particles and their arrangement. It is
refers to the size of the particles that make up the soil and
depends on the proportion of sand, silt and clay-sized
particles and organic matter in the soil. Sandy soils feel
gritty when rubbed between your fingers. Silts feel
smooth like a little like flour while most clays are sticky
and moldable. It is also are made up of different
combinations of sand, silt and clay particles. Soils that are
a mixture of sand, silt and clay are called loams. The
name of the soil often identifies the dominant particle
4
such as Timaru silt loam describes a soil that has a
predominance of silt. Other examples of New Zealand
soils are Waikare clay and Te Kopuru sand. In addition,
soil texture can influence whether soils are free draining,
whether they hold water and how easy it is for plant roots
to grow. For example:
1. Sand particles are quite big. The pore spaces
between the particles in sandy soils are also
quite large. This allows water to drain quickly
and air to enter the soil. Sandy soils tend not to
get waterlogged in winter but can be subject to
drought during summer.
2. Silt particles are too small for us to see with our
eyes. Silt soils have much smaller pore spaces
but a lot more of them. The value shear strength
for silt soils is 22 kPa.
3. Clay particles are smaller than 0.002 mm in
diameter. Clay soils are poorly drained and hold
on to the water in their pore spaces for much
longer. However, they can become very hard if
they dry out. The value shear strength for clay
soils is 5 kPa.
 Structure Of Soil
Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into
different geometric patterns. It is classified into different
types on shape, classes on size, and grades on stability
and amenable. It also describes the way the sand, silt and
clay particles are clumped together. Organic matter such
as decaying plants, animals and soil organisms like
earthworms and bacteria influence soil structure. Clays,
organic matter and materials excreted by soil organisms
bind the soil particles together to form aggregates. Soil
structure is important for plant growth, regulating the
movement of air and water, influencing root development
and affecting nutrient availability. Good quality soils are
friable (crumbly) and have fine aggregates so the soil
breaks up easily if you squeeze it. Poor soil structure has
coarse, very firm clods or no structure at all. Furthermore,
soil texture and structure together regulate porosity,
density, compactness, retention, and movement of water
and air in soil.
 Porosity Of Soil
Soil porosity refers to the pores within the soil.
Porosity influences the movement of air and water.
Healthy soils have many pores between and within the
aggregates. Poor quality soils have few visible pores,
cracks or holes. The way in which a soil is managed can
affect its porosity. For example, look at areas around your
school where students regularly walk. If the grass is worn
away and the soil is exposed, it often looks different
because it has been compacted and has had its structure
and porosity altered. These are also areas where puddles
form because the water is not able to drain away.
CHEMICAL SOIL OF PROPERTIES
 Nutrition
Having discussed water relations, it now is a bit
simpler to discuss nutrient-holding capacity. Soils hold
onto nutritional elements in a way similar to the way they
retain water. For example, positively charged nutrient
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molecules known as cat-ions, are attracted to the negative
charges on the soil particles where it is called adsorption.
The sites where cat-ions attach to particles are cat-ion-
exchange sites Thus, clay retains more nutrients than
coarser soils, just as it holds more water due to the greater
surface area to which nutrients can adsorb. The ability to
hold cat-ion nutrients is called the cat-ion-exchange
capacity (CEC) and is an important characteristic of soils
in that it relates to a soil’s ability to retain nutrients and
prevent nutrient leaching. Coarse soils have low CECs,
while clays and highly organic soils have high CECs. A
sand may have a CEC of under 10 which it is a very low
figure meanwhile any CEC above 50 is high, and such
soils should be able to hold ample nutrients.
 Salinity
Some soils, particularly in arid regions, hold high
levels of salt. We discussed earlier how clay soils are
more prone to salt build-up, and the same principle
applies to arid-region soils. Low rainfall prevents
leaching of salts, so they build up in soils. Pan layers,
common in arid regions, further inhibit drainage and
leaching. Some fertilizers and amendments also can
increase salinity.
 Soil pH
Soil pH may be the single most important aspect of
soil chemistry. Strictly speaking, soil pH, or soil reaction,
is a measure of the number of hydrogen ions (H+) present
in a solution. In more common terms, it is a measure of
alkalinity and acidity. The pH scale runs from 0 to 14.
Seven is neutral, 0 is the most highly acidic value
possible and 14 is the most alkaline, or basic, value. Most
plants grow best in the range of 6.5 to 7.0, which is
acidic, but only slightly. The so-called acid-loving plants
prefer lower pH, in the range of 4.0 to 6.0. Under 4.0, few
plants are able to survive. Slightly alkaline soil is not
harmful to most plants (except acid lovers). In strongly
alkaline soils, however, nutrient-availability problems
related to pH result. Not to forget, the parent material of
soils initially influences soil pH. For example, granitic
soils are acidic and limestone-based soils are alkaline.
However, soil pH can change over time. Soils become
acidic through natural processes as well as human
activities. Rainfall and irrigation control the pH of most
soils. In humid climates, such as the north-eastern United
States, heavy rainfall percolates through the soil. When it
does, it leaches basic ions such as calcium and
magnesium and replaces them with acidic ions such as
hydrogen and aluminum. In arid regions of the country
(less than 20 inches of rain per year), soils tend to become
alkaline.
5.0 CONCLUSION
As the conclusion, pavement failures are the process
which defects the pavements due to the effects of traffic
loading and environmental conditions that can lead to a
few categories of failures which are cracking, surface
deformation, disintegration and surface defects. Most of
the road maintenance works are by on emergency basis
which can make the proper quality control not always
possible. Highway and road need early and repeated
5
maintenance to prevent any incidents from happening.
This is due to lack of quality control. The pavement
should be designed with precise forecasting in order to
get a good quality of pavement. The pavement should be
maintained periodically such as on the maintenance
concept of routine and there should not be any delay in
maintenance.
Any organizations or authorities that involved in road
making also should have a lot of professionals, technical
person and skilled personnel to look after and carry out
the maintenance work properly. They also need modern
and adequate number of machines and equipment to
undertake the maintenance work effectively and with less
time consuming. Besides, the nature of traffic plays vital
role for the life span of pavement so at the time of
designing assumption of the future traffic is very
important. Adoption of maintenance should be based on
the type of problem of pavement failure and the most
appropriate treatment should be preferred. This is why
professionals are needed in this field so that they know
the most appropriate treatment for the potholes.
Furthermore, the safety standards need to be maintained
at the time of maintenance by the worker by wearing
safety goods and warning sign boards need to be placed at
working area so the traffic can be regularized in smooth
way.
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