Subgrade soil, Stone aggregates, bituminous materials and

cement concrete Subgrade soil it is an integral part of road pavement structure which provides support to the pavement Stone aggregates form the major portion of pavement structure and bears stresses occurring due to the wheel loads on the pavement and also resists wear due to abrasive action of traffic Bituminous materials include bitumen and tar, used as binders in pavement construction works Cement concrete cement used in the construction of cement concrete pavements CC pavements withstand heavy traffic even under adverse subgrade and climate conditions

 Integral part of pavement

The main function of subgrade soil is to provide

adequate support to the pavement hence subgrade soil properties are important in the design of pavement structure Pavement failures like formation waves , corrugations , rutting , mud pumping etc. are because of poor subgrade conditions Moisture and dry density influence the engineering behaviour of a soil mass

 Stability resistance to permanent deformation

Incompressibility
Permanency of strength Minimum changes in volume and stability under

adverse conditions of weather and ground water differential expansion and differential strength values Good drainage, and to reduce the potential frost action Ease of compaction ensures higher dry density and strength

 The wide range of soil types available as highway

construction materials The soil properties on which their identification and classification are based are known as index properties Index properties grain size distribution, liquid limit and plasticity index. Further some times shrinkage limit, compacted dry density and field moisture equivalent centrifuge moisture equivalent are used Grain size analysis seive analysis (gravel, sand, silt and clay)

 Consistency limits atterberg limits and indices, liquid limit,

plastic limit, plastic index and shrinkage limit Soil classification systems:

Burmister descriptive Casagrande Unified U.S public roads administration (PRA) HRB or AASHO or revised PRA Federal aviation agency (FAA) Civil aeronautic administration (CAA) Compaction

Unified system widely accepted for civil engineering purposes

HRB adopted for classification of subgrade spoils in highway

engineering

 Soil type

Moisture content
Dry density Internal structural of the soil, and The type and mode of stress application Shearing resistance in soil represents strength Sr = C +

where c is cohesion per unit area, is the internal friction and is the normal stress

 The tests used to evaluate the strength properties of soils

divided into three groups

shear tests direct shear test, triaxial compression test and

unconfined compression test (all these are in laboratory). Vane shear test (in field) Bearing tests carried out in situ with a load bearing area Penetration tests can be carried out in the laboratory or field, CBR and cone penetration tests
Size and shape of specimen, method of loading, rate of

loading and drainage conditions affect the results of strength tests Soil type , dry density , moisture content, permeability and other properties of soil affect the results

Aggregates form major portion of the pavement

structure Prime materials used in pavement construction They have bear the stresses occurring due to wheel loads They have to resist the wear duo to abrasive action of traffic Most of the road aggregates are prepared from natural rock (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks)

 These are specified based on their grain size, shape,

texture and gradation Specification done by various agencies like the ASTM, BSI, ISI and IRC Based on strength aggregates divided as hard aggregates and soft aggregates Soft aggregates moorum, kankar, laterite, brick aggregates and slag Soft aggregates can be used in lower layers in case of low cost road construction

 Strength
Should be sufficiently strong to with stand stresses due

to the traffic wheel load (particularly wearing coarse) Should possess sufficient strength resistance to crushing
Hardness
Should be hard enough to resist the wear due to abrasive

action of traffic Abrasive action increased ?? by sand between tyre and road surface The mutual rubbing of stones is called attrition

 Toughness
Aggregates subjected to impact due to moving wheel

loads, severe impact quite common due to heavily loaded steel tyred vehicles (WBM) Impact increases with roughness of the surface, speed and other vehicular characteristics Hence resistance to impact or toughness is another desirable property of aggregates
Durability
Should durable to resist the disintegration due to action

of weather (this property is called soundness) Aggregates should be sound enough to with stand the weathering action

 Shape of aggregates
Rounded, cubical, angular flaky or elongated particles
Flaky and elongated particles will have less strength Rounded particles have better workability in the case of

cement concrete mix Angular particles preferred for WBM and bituminous construction Too flaky and too elongated particles should be avoided as far as possible
Adhesion with bitumen
Aggregates should have less affinity with water when

compared with bituminous materials

 In order to decide the suitability of road aggregate for

road construction the following tests are conducted

Crushing test Abrasion test Impact test

Soundness test
Shape test Specific gravity and water absorption Bitumen adhesion test

 Bitumen materials used as binders in pavement construction If the bitumen contains some inert or minerals then it is called as asphalt

bitumen Bitumen and tar same??

Bitumen is obtained by the

distillation of crude petroleum Black in color Soluble in carbon disulphide and in carbon tetra chloride Less temperature susceptile Less free carbon as seen from solubility test

Tar is obtained by destructive

distillation of coal or wood Black in color Soluble only in toluene More temperature susceptile More free carbon Chemical constituents are quite different from bitumen

 Requirements of bitumen
The viscosity of bitumen at the time of mixing and

compaction should be adequate (heating or bitumen cut backs) It should be high temperature susceptile during hottest weather the bituminous mix should not become too soft or unstable and during cold weather the mix should not become too hard and brittle In the presence of water bitumen should not strip off from the aggregate adequate affinity between bitumen and aggregate

 Cutback bitumen is obtained by blending bitumen with

volatile diluent Viscosity of bitumen reduced by the volatile diluent After the cutback mix is used, the volatile gas gets evaporated and the cutback develops bonding Characteristics depends on both bitumen and volatile oil in the diluent Application fluidity of bitumen increased at low temperatures Cutback bitumens are available as three types rapid curing (RC), medium curing (MC), slow curing (SC).

 Bitumen is suspended in finely divided condition in an

aqueous medium and stabilized by means of one or more suitable materials When the bitumen is applied on the road, it breaks down and the binder starts binding with aggregates but full bonding develops slowly as water gets evaporated Used in road constructions, especially in maintenance and patch repair works The main advantage is that it can be used in wet weather conditions Types rapid setting (RS), medium setting (MS), slow setting (SS)

 To judge the suitability of bitumen binders various tests

specifies by agencies like ASTM, Asphalt institute, BSI,ISI

Penetration tests Ductility tests Viscosity tests Float test Specific gravity test Softening point test Flash and fire point test Solubility test Spot test Loss on heat test Water content test

 The bituminous mix design aims to determine the

proportion of bitumen, filler, fine aggregates, and coarse aggregates to produce a mix which is workable, strong, durable and economical
The requirements of the mix design
The two major stages of the mix design, i.e. dry mix

design and wet mix design

 sufficient bitumen to ensure a durable pavement, sufficient strength to resist shear deformation under

traffic at higher temperature, sufficient air voids in the compacted bitumen to allow for additional compaction by traffic sufficient workability to permit easy placement without segregation, sufficient flexibility to avoid premature cracking due to repeated bending by traffic, and sufficient flexibility at low temperature to prevent shrinkage cracks.

Coarse aggregates: Offer compressive and shear

strength and shows good interlocking properties. E.g. Granite Fine aggregates: Fills the voids in the coarse aggregate and stiffens the binder. E.g. Sand, Rock dust Filler: Fills the voids, stiffens the binder and offers permeability. E.g. Rock dust, cement, lime Binder: Fills the voids, cause particle adhesion and gluing and offers impermeability. E.g. Bitumen, Asphalt, Tar

 Stability - the resistance of the paving mix to deformation

under traffic load

Stability depend on the inter-particle friction, primarily of the

aggregates and the cohesion offered by the bitumen Sufficient binder must be available to coat all the particles at the same time should offer enough liquid friction stability decreases when the binder content is high and when the particles are kept apart

Durability - resistance of the mix against weathering and

abrasive actions
Weathering causes hardening due to loss of volatiles in the bitumen.

Abrasion is due to wheel loads which causes tensile strains pot-holes, stripping

 Flexibility - level of bending strength needed to

counteract traffic load and prevent cracking of surface

shrinkage and brittleness Shrinkage cracks are due to volume change in the binder due

to aging. Brittleness is due to repeated bending of the surface due to traffic loads Higher bitumen content will give better flexibility and less fracture

Skid resistance - resistance of the finished pavement

against skidding
depends on the surface texture and bitumen content Normally, an open graded coarse surface texture is desirable

Workability - the ease with which the mix can be laid

and compacted, and formed to the required condition and shape

This depends on the gradation of aggregates, their shape and

texture, bitumen content and its type

The desirable properties of a bituminous mix can be summarized as follows Stability to meet traffic demand Bitumen content to ensure proper binding and water proofing Voids to accommodate compaction due to traffic Flexibility to meet traffic loads, esp. in cold season Sufficient workability for construction Economical mix

 Bituminous mixes should be stable, durable,

flexible, workable and should offer sufficient skid resistance. The mix consists of coarse and fine aggregates, filler and binder. It may be well graded, open graded, gap graded or unbounded as per the requirements. As far as possible, it should be economical also.

 Portland cement used in the construction of cement

concrete pavements Cement concrete are considered to the highest pavement type which withstand heavy traffic even under adverse subgrade and climatic conditions Portland cement also used in soil-stabilization for construction of stabilized sun-base and base courses The properties of cement , cement concrete mix design details of concrete already covered in Building Construction Materials

 Well-graded mix: Dense mix, bituminous concrete has good

proportion of all constituents and are called dense bituminous macadam, offers good compressive strength and some tensile strength Gap-graded mix: Some large coarse aggregates are missing and has good fatigue and tensile strength. Open-graded mix: Fine aggregate and filler are missing, it is porous and offers good friction, low strength and for high speed. Unbounded: Binder is absent and behaves under loads as if its components were not linked together, though good interlocking exists. Very low tensile strength and needs kerb protection.