Unit - 01:Introduction
Dr. Mohammed Sadeque
Overview :
A highway pavement is a structure consisting of superimposed layers of processed materials above
natural soil sub-grade, whose primary function is to distribute the applied vehicle loads to the sub-grade.
The pavement structure should be able to provide a surface of acceptable riding quality, adequate
resistance, favorable light reflecting characteristics, and low noise pollution
The ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted stresses due to wheel load are sufficiently reduced, so
they will not exceed bearing capacity of the sub-grade
grade.
wo types of pavements are generally recognized as serving this purpose, namely
flexible pavements and
rigid pavements.
Requirements of a pavement
An ideal pavement should meet the following requirements:
requirements
Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on the sub-grade soil,
Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it,
Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles,
Smooth surface to provide comfort to road users even at high speed,
Produce least noise from moving vehicles,
Dust proof surface so that traffic safety is not impaired by reducing visibility,
Impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected, and
Long design life with low maintenance cost.
Historical Development of Pavement Design
and Construction Method (World wide)
Roman roads
ench Road
rre Marie Tresaguet (1716-1796)
1796) develop improved method of road construction in France in 1764
ritish Road
acadam Construction
Road Development in India
ncient roads
e excavations of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have revealed the existence of roads in India as early as 25
centuries B.C. Old records reveal that in early periods the roads were considered indispensable f
ministrative and military purposes. At the beginning of the fifth century A.D., emperor Ashoka had improve
roads and provided facilities for travelers.
ds in the Mughal period
During the Mughal periods, the roads of India were greatly improved.
Some of the highways either built or maintained by Mughals received great appreciation from the foreign
visitors who visited India during those periods.
Roads were built running from North-West to the Eastern areas through the Gangetic plains, linking also
he coastal and central parts.
ad Development in India during the Twentieth Century
rmation of Jayakar Committee (1927)
esolution was passed by both Chambers of the Indian Legislature in the year 1927 for the appointment of
mmittee to examine and report on the question of road development in India. In response to the resolution,
d Development Committee was appointed by the Government in 1927, with Mr. M. R. Jayakar as th
irman.
akar Committee submitted its report by the year 1928.
1928 Most of the recommendations of Jayakar Committe
e accepted by the government, and the major recommendations were implemented subsequently.
The Central Road Fund was formed by the year 1929,,
The semi-official technical body called the ‘Indian Roads Congress’ was formed in 1934 and
The Central Road Research Institute was started in the year 1950.
tral Road Fund (1929)
ased on the authority of a resolution adopted by the Indian Legislature, the Central Road Fund (CRF) wa
ormed on 1st March 1929.
At that period the consumers of petrol were charged an extra levy of 2.64 paisa per litre (then two Annas p
allon) of petrol to build up this road development fund.
fund
0 per cent of the annual revenue is to be retained as a Central Reserve, from which grants are to be give
y the Central Government for meeting expenses on the administration of the road fund, road experimen
nd research on road and bridge projects of special importance.
importance
he balance 80 per cent is to be allotted by the Central Government to-various states based on actual petro
onsumption or the levy collected on the sale of petrol..
he accounts of the Central Road Fund are maintained by the Accountant General of Central Revenues an
he control on the expenditure is exercised by the Roads Wing of Ministry of Transport.
dian Roads Congress (1934)
At the instance of the central government, a semi-official
official technical body known as Indian Roads Congr
(IRC) was formed in 1934.
It may be recalled that this was one of the main recommendations made by the Jayakar Committee. T
Indian Roads Congress was constituted to provide a forum for regular pooling of experience, techn
knowledge and ideas on all matters related to the planning, construction and maintenance of roads in Indi
The IRC will prepare standard specifications and provide a platform for the expression of professio
opinion on matters relating to road engineering including those of organisation and administration. The I
has played an important role in the formulation of all road development plans in India.
gpur Road Conference and Plan (1943)
A conference of the Chief Engineers of all the states and provinces was convened in 1943 by the Governm
of India at Nagpur, at the initiative of the Indian Roads Congress to finalise the first road development p
or the country as a whole.
This is a landmark in the history of road development in India, as it was the first attempt to prepare a
ordinated road development programme in a planned manner.
manner
Thus the ‘First 20-year Road Development Plan’ in India was finalised for the period 1943 to 1963 at
Nagpur Road Conference.
Therefore this road development plan is popularly known as ‘Nagpur Road Plan’. The total targ
tral Road Research Institute (1950)
he year 1950, the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) was started at New Delhi for carrying out rese
aining to road technology. It may be indicated that one of the recommendations of Jayakar Committee re
to set up a central organisation for research and dissemination of information.
CRRI is one of the national laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
tute is mainly engaged in carrying out applied research in various aspects of highway engineering and o
nical advice to state governments and the industries on various problems concerning roads.
econd Twenty Year Road Development Plan, 1961--81 (1961)
The second 20 year Road Development Plan for the period 1961 to 1981 was initiated by the IRC and
finalised in 1959 at the meeting of the Chief Engineers held at Mumbai and the same was forwarded to
Government of India.
The plan gave due consideration to the development that is actually taking place and developments that
to take place in various regions of the country in different fields during the plan period.
The target road length at the end of this second 20-year
year road development plan was almost double that o
Nagpur road plan target, i.e. a total road length of 10,57,330
10 km or about 32 km per 100 sq. km area.
ghway Research Board (1973)
The Highway Research Board of the Indian Roads Congress was set up in 1973 with a view to give pr
direction and guidance to road research activities in India.
India
The board is expected to act as a national body for coordination and promotion of highway research.
The Highway Research Board (HRB) has recommended suitable financial allocation of research by ce
and state governments and has chosen high priority research schemes for being taken up first.
rd twenty-year road development plan, 1981-2001
2001 (1981)
The Third 20-year road development plan 1981-2001
2001 was prepared by the Roads Wing of the Ministr
Transport with the active co-operation from a number of organisations and experts in the field of High
Engineering and Transportation.
This document was released during the 45th Annual Session and the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Ind
Road Congress in February 1985 at Lucknow.
The third 20 Year road development plan aimed at increasing the total road length (including urban
project roads) from 15,02,700 km in the year 1981 to 27,02,000 km by the year 2001.
This will result in an increase in road density from 46 km per 100 sq. km in the year 1981 to 82 km per
sq. km by the year 2001.
d Development in India during Twenty-First Century
onal High ways Development Projects (1998/2000)
sing the deficiencies in the national highway system in the country, the National Highways Authority of India (N
up the National Highways Development Projects (NHDP) by the year 2000, in different phases.
den Quadrilateral:
Golden Quadrilateral express highways pass through 13 states of India and connects other top Indian citie
as Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad,Udaipur,Allahabad,, Visakhapatnam,Bhubaneshwar,Kanchipuram and
gapur.
l Length is 5,846 km with four major routes:
hi – Kolkata – 1,453 km
kata – Chennai – 1,684 km
nnai-Mumbai – 1,290 km
mbai-Delhi – 1,419 km
EW Corridor
four to six lane express ways connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar,
th – South – 4,000 km
– west – 3,300 km
radhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (2000)
An accelerated village road development programme called ‘Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana’ (PMG
was launched by the central government in December 2000 to provide village connectivity with the
weather road.
The Ministry of Rural Development was vested with the responsibility to prepare the master plan
consultation with the state governments.
The objective of PMGSY is to provide connectivity to all unconnected habitations having a population o
and above with all-weather roads.
ad Development Plan: Vision 2021
Fourth 20 year Road Development Plan, 2001 -2021
2021 should have been formulated and got approved w
before the year 2000.
However ‘Road Development Plan Vision: 2021‘ was prepared by the Indian Roads Congress at t
initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Highways
This vision document has considered the need for the overall development of the road system in t
country. The total target length of the primary and secondary road system to be achieved in the country
the year 2020 has been spelt out.
Rural Road Development Plan: Vision 2025
A separate document, ‘Rural Road Development Plan Vision: 2025’ has been prepared for the 20 year perio
005 – 2025 at the initiative of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. District-wise rur
oad development plans have been prepared. This vision document targets to provide connectivity to a
nconnected habitations of the country in a phased manner, beyond the norms laid down in the PMGSY
ower population limits were fixed for underdeveloped regions including hills, deserts and tribal areas.
Types of Pavements
1. Flexible pavements
2. Rigid Pavements
3. Composite pavements
1. Flexible pavements
Flexible pavements
In flexible pavement may consist of relatively thin wearing surface built over a base course a
subbase course and they rest upon the compacted subgrade.
Flexible pavements will transmit wheel load stresses to the lower layers by grain-to-grain trans
through the points of contact in the granular structure.
structure The wheel load acting on the pavement w
be distributed to a wider area, and the stress decreases with the depth.
Taking advantage of this stress distribution characteristic, flexible pavements normally has ma
layers. Hence, the design of flexible pavement uses the concept of layered with the top layer has
be of best quality to sustain maximum compressive stress, in addition to wear and tear.
Fig: Flexible pavement
Typical layers of a Flexible pavement
Typical layers of a conventional flexible pavement includes
1. Seal coat,
2. Tack coat,
3. Surface course,
4. Binder course,
5. Prime coat,
6. Base course,
7. sub-base course,
8. Compacted sub-grade, and
9. Natural sub-grade
al Coat:
al coat is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide skid resistance.
ck Coat:
ck coat is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with water. It provides prope
nding between two layer of binder course.
me Coat:
me coat is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent surface like granular bases on
ich binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between two layers. Unlike tack coat, prime coat penetrates
o the layer below, plugs the voids, and forms a water tight surface.
urface course:
urface course is the layer directly in contact with traffic loads and generally contains super
uality materials. They are usually constructed with dense graded asphalt concrete(AC). T
unctions and requirements of this layer are:
It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage, etc. Also it will prevent
entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying base, sub-base and s
grade,
It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid- resist
riding surface,
It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the weakening effect
water
Binder course:
This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure.
structure It's chief purpose is to distribute load to the b
ourse The binder course generally consists of aggregates having less asphalt and doesn't require quality
igh as the surface course, so replacing a part of the surface course by the binder course results in m
conomical design.
Base course:
The base course is the layer of material immediately beneath the surface of binder course and it prov
dditional load distribution and contributes to the sub-surface
sub drainage It may be composed of crushed sto
rushed slag, and other untreated or stabilized materials.
materials
b-Base course:
sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base course and the primary functions are to provid
ctural support, improve drainage, and reduce the intrusion of fines from the sub-grade in the pavemen
cture If the base course is open graded, then the sub-base
sub course with more fines can serve as a fille
ween sub-grade and the base course
ub-base course is not always needed or used. For example, a pavement constructed over a high quality, stif
-grade may not need the additional features offered by a sub-base course. In such situations, sub-bas
rse may not be provided.
Sub-grade:
The top soil or sub-grade is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the stresses from
he layers above. It is essential that at no time soil sub-grade is overstressed. It should
be compacted to the desirable density, near the optimum moisture content.
Advantages of flexible pavement
Flexible pavements are generally design for 15 years.
years In case of shortage of fund stage construction i
possible.
The damaged road can be restored with thin bituminous resurfacing
It has great salvage value as the material can be recycled.
recycled
The curing period is less , the road can be open for traffic with in 24 hours
Disadvantages of flexible pavement
1) Higher maintenance costs.
2) Shorter life span under heavy use.
3) Damage by stagnant water.
4) Poor night visibility.
2. Rigid Pavement
. Rigid Pavement
Surface slab systems, known as ‘rigid’ pavements, are the most easily recognized form
cement bound pavement construction.
The specific advantage of a concrete pavement is that the relatively rigid plates distribu
load over a wide area.
Concrete surface slab systems are useful
when:
low subgrade strengths are anticipated;
exceptional heavy point loads will be encountered;
encountered
low flashpoint petrochemical spillage may be expected.
expected
TYPES OF RIGID PAVEMENTS
Rigid pavements can be classified into four types:
) Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP),
) Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP),
) Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and
) Pre-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).
Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements Because of their cost-effectiveness and reliability, the vast majority
oncrete pavements constructed today are JPCP designs.
designs They do not contain reinforcement. They ha
ansverse joints generally spaced less than 5 to 6.5 m (15
( to 20 ft) apart. They may contain dowel bars acro
e transverse joints to transfer traffic loads across slabs and may contain tie bars across longitudinal joints
romote aggregate interlock between slabs..
JOINTED REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT
CP designs contain both joints and reinforcement (e.g.,
(e welded wire fabric, deformed steel bars). Jo
acing are longer (typically about 9 to 12 m [30 to 40 ft]), and dowel bars and tie bars are used at
ansverse and longitudinal joints, respectively.
Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)
CP designs have no transverse joints, but contain a significant amount of longitudinal rein-forcement
ically 0.6 to 0.8 percent of the cross-sectional area.
area Transverse reinforcement is often used. The high
ntent of reinforcement both influences the development of transverse cracks within an acceptable spacing
d serves to hold cracks tightly together. Some agencies use CRCP designs for high-traffic, urban routes
cause of their suitability for high-traffic loads.
Comparison between rigid and flexible pavement
S.N Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
It consists of a series of layers with the It consists of one layer Portland cement
1. highest quality materials at or near the surface concrete slab or relatively high flexural
of pavement. strength.
It reflects the deformations of subgrade and It is able to bridge over localized failures and
2.
subsequent layers on the surface. area of inadequate support.
Its stability depends upon the aggregate Its structural strength is provided by the
3.
interlock, particle friction and cohesion. pavement slab itself by its beam action.
Pavement design is greatly influenced by the Flexural strength of concrete is a major factor
4.
subgrade strength. for design.
It distributes load over a wide area of
It functions by a way of load distribution
5. subgrade because of its rigidity and high
through the component layers
modulus of elasticity.
Temperature variations due to change in
Temperature changes induce heavy stresses in
6. atmospheric conditions do not produce
rigid pavements.
stresses in flexible pavements.
S.N Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
Higher maintenance costs. low maintenance costs.
7.
The curing period is less , the road can be The curing period is more , the road can be open
8 open for traffic with in 24 hours for traffic with in 28 days.
Disturb the traffic flow.
9 Damage by stagnant water No damage by stagnant water
The damaged surface can be restored with
10 thin bituminous resurfacing Difficult to restore damage pavement
Question Bank on Unit -01
: What are the requirements of good pavement?
: Explain the constructional feature of Roman road with neat diagram.
: Explain the constructional feature of Telford road with neat diagram.
: Explain the constructional feature of Tresguat road with neat diagram.
: Write a detail note on
a) Jayakar committee
b) Indian Road congress
: What are the salient features of Nagpur road plan?
: What are the salient features of Second twenty year road plan?
: What are the salient features of third twenty year road plan?
0: What are the salient features of NHDP road plan?
1: What is the flexible pavement? What are the functions of different layer of flexible pavement?
2: Compare between flexible and rigid pavement?
3: Explain different type of rigid pavement.