UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
VVICIA3/VVI3A11: TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING 3A
2024 – ASSIGNMENT 2: STRUCTURAL PAVEMENT DESIGN &
SURFACING DESIGN
Question 1
Traffic data for a proposed 2-lane 2-way road construction in a dry region is as
follows:
● Estimated vehicles per day in both directions is 3 000
● 16% are overloaded heavy vehicles at 4.0E80 each
● 25% are buses at 1.8E80 each
● 4% are empty heavy vehicles at 1.0E80 each
● In situ subgrade CBR over its total length = 2.5
● CBR of selected subgrade = 12
● CBR of Sub-base layer = 45
● CBR of base-course = 80
(i) Calculate the equivalent E80s for the pavement for a 25 year
design life.
(ii) Hence estimate the thicknesses of each layer of the proposed
pavement and assign materials codes (Hint: use Figure 1.1,
TRH4 and miscellaneous information provided).
[25 marks]
Question 2
A category C-road has been investigated and the following data were recorded.
The Traffic Study found 1200 total vehicles per day (for a two lane, two-way
road), with 1.5% p.a. growth rate up to when road was first opened to traffic.
Design and construction period took 3 years to complete. There are 20% laden
trucks at 4 E80s (equivalent standard axles, esa) per truck, 8% unladen trucks at
1.8 E80 (esa) per truck, and 25% buses at 2.2 E80s (esa) per bus; the rest of the
vehicles are light. The pavement investigation tested the road with a DCP
instrument (see Table 2). The climate is wet.
(a) The table below gives readings from a dynamic cone penetrometer, first
read every 5 blows and later every blow. Graph paper is provided. Find
the thickness and DCP Number (mm/blow) for each layer and
calculate the equivalent CBR value. Allocate a material code to each
layer. Using the design catalogue for wet regions provided, assess the
traffic carrying capacity of the road structure. [16 marks]
(b) What is the annual traffic loading in terms of equivalent standard axles
per lane per year? [2 marks]
(c) What is the expected traffic over the next 12 years? [1 mark]
(d) If the road has already carried 0.7 million standard axles to date, what is
the remaining structural capacity of the road? Is this sufficient for the
expected traffic over the next 12 years? Explain. When can failure be
expected? [4 marks]
(e) Which layer of the road is expected to fail when failure occurs? Explain
your answer. [2 marks]
Table 2: DCP test results
Blow number DCP reading Blow number DCP reading
mm mm
0 75 87 640
5 90 88 660
10 105 89 680
15 120 90 700
20 135 91 718
25 150 92 730
30 165 93 747
35 180 94 763
40 195 95 780
45 210 96 797
50 225 97 812
55 265 98 830
60 305
65 345
70 385
75 445
80 505
85 600
86 620
Question 3
A new six lane freeway is to be constructed in a moderately dry region based
on an estimated present average daily traffic (ADT) of 4 000 vehicles per day in
both directions. The traffic growth rates are expected to be 4.5% until the road
is opened to traffic in five years’ time and thereafter 7% up to the end of its
design life. Heavy vehicles, averaging 0.92 E80s each, comprise 20% of the
total traffic.
(i) Calculate the predicted design traffic at the end of the structural design
period of 25 years and state the design traffic class.
(i) If the design California Bearing Ratio of the subgrade averages 5%, 8%
and 12% propose a pavement design using the catalogue method over the
full material depth for a structural design period stated above using a
granular base.
[25 marks]
Question 4
A new road is to be surfaced using 150/200 Penetration Grade Bitumen.
Aggregates for the double seal surfacing are 13.2 mm and 6.7 mm respectively.
The predicted traffic volume for the road comprises 2400 light vehicles per lane
per day and 215 heavy vehicles per lane per day. Climate is wet (and requires an
adjustment of 10%). Aggregate properties are: 13.2 mm stone: ALD = 8.2 mm,
flakiness is 10%; 6.7 mm stone: ALD = 4.3 mm, flakiness is 15%. Ball
penetration values (corrected) averaged 1.5 mm, gradients are greater than 4%
(and requires an adjustment by 10%), and base texture depth is 0.5 mm.
Use TRH 3 to design a double seal of 13.2 mm stone and 6.7 mm stone, using a
150/200 Penetration Grade Bitumen for a new road work.
Other details of the road are as follows:
●Policy:
Aggregate spread rate: open shoulder-to-shoulder matrix is
preferred (requires correction of 10%)
No pre-coating of aggregates (i.e. Tack Coat = 35%; Penetration
Coat = 35%; Fog Spray = 30 %)
[25 marks]
EQUATIONS, FUNCTIONS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, & DESIGN
CHARTS
●Equivalent CBR from DCP values:
CBR = 401.8
(DCP Number) 1.284
CBR values for various layers are given in the table below:
Material Code Minimum CBR Layer
G4 80 Gravel base
G5 45 Subbase
G6 25 Subbase /
selected
G7 15 Selected
G8 10 Subgrade
G9 7 Subgrade
G10 3 Subgrade
Subgrade Design Table
Design CBR <3 3 to 7 7 to 15 > 15
of subgrade
Layerwork Special 150 mm G7 150 mm G7 --
treatment 150 mm G9 -- --
Roadbed essential R + R, 150mm R + R, 150mm R + R,
G10 G9 150mm
G7