Highway Engineering (CL-714)

Pavement Design
What is Pavement?
 Pavement is a structure interposed between the wheel and soil, since the
soil itself cannot support the repeated application of wheel loads without
undergoing deformation.

 Pavement carries the wheel load and transfer the load stresses through
wider area on the soil subgrade below.

 Reduction of wheel load stress due to pavement depends on its thickness

and characteristics of pavement layers.
Types of Pavement
 The pavement can be classified based on the structural performance into
two, flexible pavements and rigid pavements.

 Flexibility and Rigidity in terms of deformation.

Typical Composition
Key Differences
Key Differences (Stress Distribution)
Key Differences
Ideal Pavement
 Good riding surface and Adequate friction
 Good drainage
 Bearing capacity
 Load transfer capacity
 Lesser glare
 Long design life with minimum maintenance
Design Factors
 Traffic Factors  Climatic Factors
 Rainfall
 Design Wheel Load
 Daily and Seasonal Temperature variation
 Traffic Volume
 Snowfall
 Repetition of Wheel load
 Placement of Wheel load  Soil Parameter:
 Average Speed and Impact  Bearing Capacity
 Drainage Condition
 Stress Strain behavior
 Material
 Mix Design
 Geometry:
 Strength of Materials  Depth of cutting and filling
 Level of water table
Rigid Pavement Design
• IRC-58-2015, Guidelines for the Design of Plain joined rigid
pavements for highways
• Principles of Pavement Design by E. J. Yoder & M. W. Witczak
• Pavement Analysis and Design by Yang Huang
• Analysis of Pavement Structures by Animesh Das
Rigid Pavements
 Rigid pavements are those which possess note worthy flexural strength or
flexural rigidity. Load sustain and transfer by rigidity of layer and it
imparts by flexural strength of concrete.

 The rigid pavements are made of Portland cement concrete- either Plain,
Partial Reinforced, Reinforced or Pre-stressed concrete.

 Grade of cement concrete to be used is M40 or above, which is also known

as Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC).
Rigid Pavements- Types
 Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP),
 Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP),
 Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and
 Pre-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).
Rigid Pavements- Layout
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
 Wheel load & Critical load position
 Design Life & Design traffic
 Modulus of elasticity & Poisson’s ratio of concrete
 Modulus of Subgrade Reaction
 Radius of relative stiffness
 Equivalent radius of resisting section
 Temperature variation & Friction
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Wheel Load:

 Legal axle load limit as per IRC-58: 10.2 t, 19 t & 24 t for single, tandem and
tridem axle respectively.

 Wheel load (P) : 5100 kg

Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Critical Load Position:

 Since the pavement slab has finite length and width, either the character
or the intensity of maximum stress induced by the application of a given
traffic load is dependent on the location of the load on the pavement
surface.

 There are three typical locations namely the interior, edge and corner,
where differing conditions of slab continuity exist.
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters
Critical Load Position:
Rigid Pavements- Design Parameters

X = 2.58 𝑎 ∗ 𝑙

Where, a is radius of wheel load contact area and l is rad. Of rel. stiffness
Rigid Pavements- Design Period & Design Traffic
 Generally design period is taken as 30 years.

 But, it may vary according to uncertainty of traffic growth rate and capacity
of extra widening.

 Design traffic should be decided based on average daily traffic calculated

for 7 days-24 hours in accordance to IRC-9 (Traffic census on Non-urban
roads.)

 Growth rate also be considered for future traffic prediction.

Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (K)
 Westergaard considered the rigid pavement slab as a thin elastic plate
resting on soil sub-grade, which is assumed as a dense liquid. The upward
reaction is assumed to be proportional to the deflection.

 Base on this assumption, Westergaard defined a modulus of sub-grade

reaction K in kg/cm3 as K = P / δ, where δ is the displacement level taken as
0.125 cm and P is the pressure sustained by the rigid plate of 75 cm
diameter at a deflection of 0.125 cm.
Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (K)
 Though 750 mm dia. Plate is standard plate, smaller diameter plate can be
used for test by considering practical limitations.

 Test values obtained with smaller dia. Plate may be converted to 750 mm
plate using following formula (given in IRC-58):

Where, Ø is plate diameter in ‘m’

Roughly, K75= 0.5 K30
Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (K)
 Relationship between CBR and K-value:

 Minimum 8 % CBR value is recommended by IRC

Radius of relative stiffness (l)
 Amount of deflection which will occur on the pavement surface depends
on the stiffness of the slab and also on the stiffness of the subgrade. The
same amount of the deflection will occur on the top surface of the sub-
grade. This means that the amount of deflection which is going to occur in
the rigid pavement layer depends upon relative stiffness of the pavement
slab to that of sub-grade.
 This pressure deformation characteristics of rigid pavement lead
Westergaard to the define the term radius of relative stiffness (l) in cm is
given by the equation:
Radius of relative stiffness (l)
 Where E is the modulus of elasticity of cement concrete in kg/cm2, µ is the
Poisson's ratio of concrete, h is the slab thickness in cm and K is the
modulus of sub-grade reaction kg/cm3.
Radius of relative stiffness (l)
Radius of relative stiffness (l)
 Find radius of relative stiffness of 15 cm thick CC slab for following data: E =
2.1 * 105 kg/cm2, µ = 0.13 and K = 3 kg/cm3

(Answer: 67 cm)
Equivalent radius of resisting section (b)
 When the interior point is loaded, only a small area of the pavement is
resisting the bending moment of the plate.
 Dr. Westergaard gave a relation for equivalent radius of the resisting
section in cm by the equation:

 Where a is the radius of the wheel load distribution in cm and h is the slab
thickness in cm.
Equivalent radius of resisting section (b)
 Compute the equivalent radius of resisting section of 20 cm slab, given that
the radius of contact area wheel load is 15 cm & 35 cm.
Stresses in Rigid Pavement
 Wheel Load Stress

 Temperature Stress
 Warping Stress
 Frictional Stress
Wheel Load Stresses
Westergaard’s Theory
 H. M. Westergaard is considered the pioneer in providing rational
treatment to the problem of rigid pavement analysis.

 Westergaard considered the rigid pavement slab as a thin elastic plate

resting on soil subgrade, which is assumed as dense liquid.

 Here, it is assumed that the upward reaction is proportional to subgrade

reaction. Also it is assumed that slab is infinite and continuous and
extended in all direction away from the load.
Westergaard’s Theory
 The commonly used equation for theoretical computation of wheel load
stress have been given by Westergaard.
 He considered three typical regions of the slab for the analysis of stresses.
Evaluation of Wheel load stresses for Design
 The stresses at edge and corner region is found out more critical for the design
of rigid pavement.
 The Indian Road Congress recommends the following two formulas:
 Westergaard’s edge load stress formula, modified by Teller & Sutherland:
P l
Se = 0.529 1 + 0.54 µ x (4 log10 + log10 b – 0.4048)
h2 b
 Westergaard’s corner load stress formula, modified by Kelley:

 From these equations, IRC has developed charts to find out Stresses from basic
available data.
Temperature Stresses
Temperature stresses
 Temperature stresses are developed in cement concrete pavement due to
variation in slab temperature.

 This is caused by (i) daily variation resulting in a temperature gradient

across the thickness of the slab and (ii) seasonal variation resulting in
overall change in the slab temperature.

 The former results in warping stresses and the later in frictional stresses.
Warping Stress
 Temperature differential between the top and bottom of the slab causes
curling (warping) stress in the pavement.

 If the temperature of the upper surface of the slab is higher than the
bottom surface then top surface tends to expand and the bottom surface
tends to contract resulting in compressive stress at the top, tensile stress at
bottom and vice versa.
Warping Stress
Warping Stress
 The warping stress at the interior, edge and corner regions:
Warping Stress
 Bradbury’s Coefficients:
Warping Stress
Warping Stress
 Calculate warping stresses at interior, edge and corner for a CC pavement
of thickness 25cm with transverse joints at 5 m spacing. The width of slab
is 3.60 m. For concrete, E = 3.0 x 105 kg/cm2 and µ = 0.15. K value for
subgrade = 6.9 kg/cm3. Temperature differential is 0.6˚ C per cm of slab
thickness during day time and 0.4˚ C per cm thickness of slab during night
time. Assume radius of contact area is 15 cm.
Warping Stress
Warping Stress
Warping Stress
Frictional Stresses
 Due to seasonal variation in temperature, there is an overall expansion and
contraction of CC slab.

 Since slab is in contact with soil subgrade or the sub-base, the slab
movements are restrained due to friction between the bottom layer of the
pavement and the soil layer. That leads to create frictional stress in the
bottom fibre of the CC pavement.
Frictional Stresses
 The frictional stress in kg/cm2 is given by the equation:

 Where, ‘W’ is the unit weight of concrete in kg/cm 3, ‘f’ is the coefficient of
sub grade friction and ‘L’ is the length of the slab in meter.
Combination of stresses
 During Summer the critical combinations at interior and edge regions
occurs when the slab tends to warp downward.
 The maximum tensile stress is developed at bottom fiber due to loading
and warping, however the frictional stress is compressive

Critical combination of stresses = (load stress + warping stress – frictional

stress), at edge region
Combination of stresses
 During winter the critical combination of stress at interior and edge regions
occur at bottom fiber when the slab contracts and slab warps downward
during the mid day

Critical stress combination = (load stress+ warping stress+ frictional stress), at

edge region
Combination of stresses
Combination of stresses
Combination of stresses
 Since the differential temperature is higher in summer than in winter the
combination of stress in summer is critical
 At corner regions there are no frictional stresses, the critical combination
occurs at top fiber of slab during mid nights

critical stress combination = (load stress + warping stress), at corner region

Combination of stresses
Combination of stresses
Design of Joints
Design of Joints
 Joints are classified based upon their direction of placement:
 Transverse Joints (Expansion & Contraction)
 Longitudinal Joints (Construction & Separation)
Longitudinal
Joint
Transverse joint
Expansion Joints
 The purpose of the expansion joint is to allow the expansion of the
pavement due to rise in temperature with respect to construction
temperature.

 design involves finding the joint spacing for a given expansion joint
thickness (say 2.5 cm specified by IRC) subjected to some maximum
spacing (say 140m as per IRC).
Expansion Joints
 Expansion Joints:

 Where, Le is spacing between two expansion joints in ‘m’, δ’ is half joint

width in ‘cm’, C is thermal coefficient of expansion of concrete and
(T2 – T1) is temperature difference.
Expansion Joints
 The width of expansion joint gap is 2.5 cm in a cc pavement. If the laying
temperature is 10˚ C and the maximum slab temperature in summer is 54˚
C, calculate the spacing between expansion joints. Assume coefficient of
thermal expansion of concrete is 10 x 10-6 per ˚C.

 Answer: 28.5 m
 Contraction Joints
 The purpose of the contraction joint is to allow the contraction of the slab
due to fall in slab temperature below the construction temperature.
 The movement is restricted by the sub-grade friction.
 Design involves the length of the slab given by (without reinforcement):

 Where, Lc is spacing between contraction joint in ‘m’ (maximum 4.5 m), Sc is

the allowable stress in tension in cement concrete and is taken as 0.8 kg/cm2,
W is the unit weight of the concrete which can be taken as 2400 kg/m3 and f
is the coefficient of sub-grade friction which can be taken as 1.5.
 Contraction Joints
Contraction joints: (With reinforcement)
 Contraction Joints
 Determine the spacing between contraction joint for 3.5 m slab width having
thickness of 20 cm and f = 1.5, for the following two cases:
 For plain cement concrete.
 For reinforcement cement concrete, 1.0 cm dia bars at 0.30 m spacing.

(Answer: 4.44 m and 10.17 m)

 Design of Tie Bars
 Tie bars serve as a means to tie two slabs.

 Hence tie bars must be deformed or hooked and must be firmly anchored
into the concrete to function properly.

 They are provided across longitudinal joints.

 Design of Tie Bars
Step:1
 The area of steel per one meter in cm2 is given by:

 Where, ‘b’ is the width of the pavement panel in m, ‘h’ is the depth of the
pavement in cm, ‘W’ is the unit weight of the concrete in kg/m3 (2400) , ‘f’ is
the coefficient of friction, and Ss is the allowable working tensile stress in
steel in kg/cm2(1400).
 Design of Tie Bars
Step:2
Find the c/s area of one bar by assuming diameter of bar as 10mm or 12mm:
as = π d2 / 4

Step:3
Find number of bars per m:
N = A S / aS

Step:4
Find spacing of bars:
Spacing = 100 / N (cm)
 Design of Tie Bars
Step:5

 Find the length of tie bars as:

 Where, ‘d‘ is the diameter of the bar, ‘Ss’ is the allowable tensile stress in
kg/cm2, and ‘Sb’ is the allowable bond stress and can be assumed for plain
and deformed bars respectively as 17.5 and 24.6 kg/cm2.
 Design of Tie Bars
A cement concrete pavement has a thickness of 18 cm and has two lanes of 7.2 m with a
longitudinal joint along the centre. Design the dimensions and spacing of the deformed
tie bars. (Allowable working tensile stress in steel is 1750 kg/cm2 )

2 x 24.6

(Answer: Use 10 mm dia. Bars of length 36 cm at 55 cm c/c)

 Design of Dowel Bars
 The purpose of the dowel bar is to effectively transfer the load between two concrete
slabs and to keep the two slabs in same height.
 The dowel bars are provided in the direction of the traffic (longitudinal).
 Spacing and size of dowel bars is based upon Bradbury's analysis for load transfer
capacity of one dowel bar.
Design of Dowel Bars
Mechanism of Load Transfer by Dowel Bar System
 Dowel bars transfer the load across a pavement joint primarily by shear
action.
 When one panel of the pavement is loaded, the panel is deflected along
with the dowels connecting the loaded panel with an adjacent panel and in
the process the dowels transfer part of the load to the unloaded panel.
 Dowel bars transfer the load across a pavement joint primarily by shear
action. When one panel of the pavement is loaded, the panel is deflected
along with the dowels connecting the loaded panel with an adjacent panel
and in the process the dowels transfer part of the load to the unloaded
panel.
Mechanism of Load Transfer by Dowel Bar System
 The load transfer mechanism between the dowel and the concrete is a
complex phenomenon. This mechanism depends mainly on a parameter
known as the modulus of dowel support or modulus of dowel concrete
interaction.
 A high modulus of dowel support value indicates a good contact between
the surrounding concrete and the steel dowel. However, with repeated
application of wheel loads, the contact between the surrounding concrete
and the dowel deteriorates, particularly where the bar is seated and in the
vicinity of the face of the joint. At these locations, the concrete may be
crushed over time and repeated loading when subjected to high bearing
stresses.
Stresses in Dowel Bars
 The maximum bearing stress developed in the dowel bar and the allowable
bearing stress in cement concrete are to be considered during the design.

Maximum bearing stress:

 The bearing stress between concrete and dowel bar depends upon mainly
on diameter or the dowel bar and the spacing between them.
 The maximum bearing stress between concrete and the dowel bar is given
by:
Stresses in Dowel Bars
 Maximum bearing stress:
Stresses in Dowel Bars
Allowable bearing stress in concrete:

 The bearing stress in concrete depends upon the characteristic

compressive strength of concrete and the diameter of the dowel bar.
 It is given by,

Where, b is diameter of dowel bar in cm, fck is charac. Compressive strength of

concrete in kg/cm2
Design Principle
 The diameter of the dowel bar and spacing between them are designed
such that a group of dowel system can transfer 40 % of the design axle load
across the joint to the adjoining slab.

 Usually the first dowel bar is placed at a distance of 15 cm from the

pavement edge. The critical loading position for the dowel bar is when the
design load is placed directly above the first dowel bar.

 Let the maximum load carried by the first dowel bar when the wheel load
is directly above it is Pt kg.
Design Principle
 A few dowel bars (within the distance 1.8 l) that are next to the first dowel
bar will also share the load transfer, but will carry lower magnitude of load
as the distance from the first dowel bar increases.
Dowel bars- Design steps
 Properties of cement concrete pavement like design thickness, design
wheel load (P) for dowel bar design (half of design axle load), elastic
modulus, radius of relative stiffness, subgrade modulus and charc.
Compressive strength of concrete would be listed out.
 Total load to be sustained by the dowel group = 0.40 P
 Maximum load sustained by the first dowel bar near the edge = Pt
 Trial diameter of dowel bar = b (25 to 32 mm) and trial spacing = s (25 to 35
cm) are assumed.
 Properties of dowel bar Elastic modulus of steel bars, modulus of dowel
concrete interaction to be found out.
 Dowel bars- Design steps
 Calculate allowable bearing stress in concrete (Fb)
 Total load transferred by the dowel group is calculated in terms of maximum
load carried, Pt by the edge dowel =
Pt [ 1 + (l – s)/l + (l – 2s)/l + (l – 3s)/l + …) = Pt Y
 Using known value of design load, P, calculate the value of Pt = (0.4P/y)
 Determine the value of relative stiffness of dowel bar embedded in concrete
(β)
 Find out maximum bearing stress between dowel bar and concrete (Sbm)
 If the calculated values of Sbm is less than the allowable bearing stress in
concrete the design is safe. If not trail with higher dia of bar or lower spacing.
Dowel bars- Design steps
Dowel bars- Design steps
Dowel bars- Design steps
Dowel bars- Design steps
 Thickness Design
 Using the data given below, design the thickness of a CC pavement by making
use of edge load equation modified by Teller and Sutherland. Also check the
design for the corner load stresses using equation modified by Kelley and corner
warping assuming temperature differential at night time as 60% of the
temperature differential during mid day. Warping stress equation given by
Westergaard and warping stress coefficient chart by Bradbury may be used.
(Neglect Frictional stresses)

Design wheel load, P = 7000 kg, Radius of contact area, a = 17.24 cm, Spacing
between longitudinal joints = 3.75 m, Spacing between contraction joints = 4.20 m,
E = 3 x 105 kg/cm2, µ = 0.15, α = 10-5 /˚C, Flexural Strength of concrete = 40 kg/cm2,
K = 30 kg/cm3 , Temperature differential during day time 16.5˚ C
 Thickness Design
Assume Trial Thickness of 28 cm, E = 3 x 105 kg/cm2, µ = 0.15, K = 30 kg/cm3

3.964
Thickness Design

16.5˚ C
Thickness Design
Thickness Design
Thickness Design