PAVEMENT

PAVEMENT DESIGN
CIVIL ENGINEERING

MASTER THE PRINCIPLES, ANALYSIS, AND

DESIGN
DESIGN IN PAVEMENT ENGINEERING
This student-friendly textbook offers comprehensive coverage of pavement design
and highways. Written by two seasoned civil engineering educators, the book contains
precise explanations of traditional and computerized mechanistic design methods along
with detailed examples of real-world pavement and highway projects. Pavement Design:
Materials, Analysis, and Highways shows, step by step, how to apply the latest, software-
based AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Design method. Each design topic is
covered in separate, modular chapters, enabling you to tailor a course of study. Fundamentals
of Engineering (FE) sample questions are also provided in each chapter. M AT E R I A L S , A N A LY S I S , A N D H I G H W AY S
Coverage includes:
• Stress-strain in pavement • Overlay and drainage design

M AT E R I A L S , A N A LY S I S , A N D H I G H W AY S
• Soils, aggregates, asphalt, and portland • Sustainable and rehabilitation pavement
cement concrete design, pavement management, and
• Traffic analysis for pavement design recycling
• Distresses and distress-prediction • Geometric design of highways
models in flexible and rigid pavement
• Flexible and rigid pavement design by
AASHTO 1993 and AASHTOWare

M. Rashad Islam, Ph.D., P.E., is an assistant professor of civil engineering at Colorado State K Explains both the AASHTO 1993 and AASHTOWare design methods
University, Pueblo. He also serves as an ABET evaluator and a journal reviewer for ASCE, TRB,
ASTM, and Elsevier. Dr. Islam has more than 100 publications in pavement engineering. K Covers the pavement design topics that are tested on the FE and PE exams

Rafiqul A. Tarefder, Ph.D., P.E., is a professor of civil engineering at the University of New K Instructor ancillaries include PowerPoint slides and a solutions manual
Mexico, where he developed the pavement engineering graduate program. He also serves
as an associate editor of ASCE’s International Journal of Geomechanics. Dr. Tarefder has
more than 400 refereed journal and conference publications, and is a registered Professional
Engineer in New Mexico and Idaho.

Tarefder
Islam
M. Rashad Islam
Rafiqul A. Tarefder
 Pavement
Design

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FM.indd 2 29-05-2020 19:39:41
 Pavement
Design
Materials, Analysis,
and Highways

M. Rashad Islam
Colorado State University
Pueblo, Colorado

Rafiqul A. Tarefder
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico

New York Chicago San Francisco

Athens London Madrid
Mexico City Milan New Delhi
Singapore Sydney Toronto

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 Library of Congress Control Number: 2020936569

  
    
  
  
  
 
 

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Pavement Design: Materials, Analysis, and Highways

Copyright © 2020 by McGraw Hill. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
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FM.indd 4 29-05-2020 19:39:49

 About the Authors
M. Rashad Islam, Ph.D., P.E., is an assistant professor of civil engineer-
ing at Colorado State University, Pueblo. He also serves as an ABET
evaluator and a journal reviewer for ASCE, TRB, ASTM, and Elsevier.
Dr. Islam has more than 100 publications in pavement engineering.
Rafiqul A. Tarefder, Ph.D., P.E., is a professor of civil engineering at
the University of New Mexico, where he developed the pavement
engineering graduate program. He also serves as an associate editor
of ASCE’s International Journal of Geomechanics. Dr. Tarefder has more
than 400 refereed journal and conference publications, and is a regis-
tered Professional Engineer in New Mexico and Idaho.

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FM.indd 6 29-05-2020 19:39:49
 Contents
Preface  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Pavement Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Flexible Pavements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Rigid Pavements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Design Philosophy of Pavements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Major Pavement Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.1 The AASHTO 1993 Pavement Design Guide. . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.2 The AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical
(ME) Design Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4.3 Other Design Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.4 International Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.5 Other Design Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.7 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 11
1.8 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2 Stress-Strain in Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Stress-Stain in Flexible Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.2.1 Single-Layer Elastic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.2.2 Two-Layer Elastic Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2.3 Multilayer Elastic Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 Stress-Stain in Rigid Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3.1 Curling Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3.2 Traffic-Induced Stress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.3.3 Friction-Induced Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.4 Joint Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.4 Stress in Dowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.5 Finite Element Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5.2 The User’s View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.5.3 Pre-Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.5.4 Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.5.5 Post-Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.6 Numerical Analysis Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.8 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 49
2.9 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

vii

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 viii C o n t e n t s

3 Soils and Aggregates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

3.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2 Physical Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2.1 Sieve Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.2.2 Atterberg Limits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.2.3 Soil Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.2.4 Proctor Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.2.5 Flat and Elongated Particles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3.2.6 Fine Aggregate Angularity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
3.2.7 Coarse Aggregate Angularity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.2.8 Clay Content. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
3.2.9 Los Angeles (LA) Abrasion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
3.2.10 Soundness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.2.11 Deleterious Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3 Mechanical Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3.1 Resilient Modulus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
3.3.2 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) in Laboratory. . . . . . . . 72
3.3.3 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) in Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.3.4 R-Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.3.5 Dynamic Cone Penetration (DCP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
3.3.6 Resilient Modulus from Soil Physical Testing . . . . . . . . 78
3.3.7 Resilient/Elastic Modulus of Chemically
Stabilized Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.4 Resilient Modulus Variations Due to Moisture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.5 Resilient Modulus Variations Due to Stress Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.6 Other Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.8 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 83
3.9 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

4 Asphalt Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2 Asphalt Binder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.2.1 Asphalt Emulsion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.2.2 Cutback Asphalt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.3 Foamed Asphalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.2.4 Recycled Asphalt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.3 Grading of Asphalt Binder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.3.1 Penetration Grading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.3.2 Viscosity Grading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.3.3 Performance Grading (PG). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.4 Other Tests on Asphalt Binder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.4.1 Absolute Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.4.2 Kinematic Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.4.3 Brookfield Viscosity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.4.4 Specific Gravity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

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 Contents ix

4.4.5 Ring and Ball Softening Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

4.4.6 Flash Point Temperature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.4.7 Ductility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.4.8 Solubility in Trichloroethylene. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.5 Asphalt Mixtures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.5.1 Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
4.5.2 Warm-Mix Asphalt (WMA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.5.3 Cold-Mix Asphalt (CMA). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
4.6 Recycled Asphalt Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.6.1 Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.6.2 Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles (RAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.6.3 Rubberized Asphalt Concrete (RAC). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.6.4 Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) in Base and
Subgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
4.7 Surface Treatment Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.7.1 Fog Seal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.7.2 Slurry Seal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
4.7.3 Chip Seal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.7.4 Microsurfacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
4.7.5 Scrub Seal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.7.6 Cape Seal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.7.7 Coats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
4.8 Characterization of New Asphalt Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.8.1 Dynamic Modulus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.8.2 Indirect Tensile Strength Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.8.3 Fatigue Endurance Limit (FEL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
4.8.4 Creep Compliance Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.8.5 Poisson’s Ratio Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.8.6 Miscellaneous Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.9 Characterization of Existing Asphalt Mixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.10 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
4.11 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 129
4.12 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5 Portland Cement Concrete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.2 PCC Characterizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.2.1 Elastic Modulus and Poisson’s Ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.2.2 Flexural Strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
5.2.3 Indirect Tensile Strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.2.4 Unit Weight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.2.5 Air Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
5.2.6 Other Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.3 Chemically Stabilized PCC Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
5.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
5.5 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 146
5.6 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

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6 Traffic Analysis for Pavement Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

6.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.2 Fundamentals of Traffic Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.2.1 Tire Imprint Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.2.2 Axle Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
6.2.3 Counting Traffic and Measuring Axle Load. . . . . . . . . . 152
6.2.4 FHWA Vehicle Classifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6.3 Traffic Analysis for the AASHTO 1993 Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.3.1 Equivalent Single-Axle Load (ESAL). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.3.2 Equivalent Axle Load Factor (EALF). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.3.3 Calculation of Projected Design ESAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6.4 Traffic Analysis for the AASHTOWare Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.4.1 Traffic Data Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.4.2 Developing Traffic Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
6.5 Details of Traffic Inputs for the AASHTOWare Design. . . . . . . . . 166
6.5.1 Type 1: Traffic Volume–Base Year Information. . . . . . . . 166
6.5.2 Type 2: Traffic Volume Adjustment Factors . . . . . . . . . . 167
6.5.3 Type 3: Axle Load Distribution Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
6.5.4 Type 4: General Traffic Inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
6.6 Traffic Data Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
6.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
6.8 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 176
6.9 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
7 Flexible Pavement Design by AASHTO 1993. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.2 AASHTO 1993 Design Equation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.3 Load Repetitions (W18). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
7.4 Structural Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
7.4.1 Definition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
7.4.2 Layer Coefficient of Asphalt Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
7.4.3 Layer Coefficient of Base Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
7.4.4 Layer Coefficient of Subbase Layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
7.4.5 Drainage Coefficients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
7.5 Effective Roadbed Soil Resilient Modulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
7.6 Terminal Serviceability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
7.7 Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
7.8 Selection of Layers’ Thicknesses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
7.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
7.10 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 192
7.11 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8 Distresses in Flexible Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.2 Major Distresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.2.1 Alligator Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.2.2 Top-Down Longitudinal Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

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8.2.3 Rutting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

8.2.4 Transverse Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
8.3 Minor Distresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.1 Stripping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.2 Raveling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.3 Potholes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
8.3.4 Bleeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.3.5 Block Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.3.6 Reflection Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.3.7 Depression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.3.8 Corrugation and Shoving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
8.3.9 Slippage Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
8.3.10 Microcracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
8.3.11 Water Bleeding and Pumping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.3.12 Polished Aggregate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.3.13 Mat Tearing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.3.14 Nonuniform Texture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
8.3.15 Miscellaneous Distresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
8.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
8.5 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 212
8.6 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

9 Distress Models in Flexible Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

9.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
9.2 Alligator Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
9.3 Top-Down Longitudinal Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
9.4 Rutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
9.5 Transverse Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
9.6 International Roughness Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
9.7 Reflective Cracking in HMA Overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
9.8 Recommended Design-Performance Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
9.9 Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
9.10 Calibration of Local Calibration Coefficients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
9.11 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
9.12 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 248
9.13 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

10 Flexible Pavement Design by AASHTOWare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

10.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
10.2 AASHTOWare Design Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
10.2.1 Starting the Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
10.2.2 Materials and Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
10.2.3 Presence of Rigid Layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
10.2.4 Presence of Water Table. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
10.2.5 Drainage System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
10.2.6 Soil Stabilization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

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10.2.7 Base/Subbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

10.2.8 Initial IRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
10.2.9 Traffic Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
10.2.10 Climate Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
10.2.11 Analysis Procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
10.3 AASHTOWare Input Hierarchy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
10.4 Getting Started with the AASHTOWare Pavement ME
Design Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
10.5 Interpretation and Analysis of the Trial Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
10.6 Special Features of the Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.6.1 Thickness Optimization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.6.2 Batch Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.6.3 Structural Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.6.4 Calibration Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
10.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
10.8 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 269
10.9 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

11 Asphalt Overlay Design by AASHTOWare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

11.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
11.2 AASHTOWare Design Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
11.3 Overlay Design Using the AASHTOWare Software. . . . . . . . . . . 274
11.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
11.5 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 277
11.6 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
12 Rigid Pavement Design by AASHTO 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
12.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
12.2 AASHTO Thickness Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
12.3 Design Inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.3.1 Effective Modulus of Subgrade Reaction. . . . . . . . . . . . 282
12.3.2 Concrete Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
12.3.3 Drainage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
12.3.4 Load Transfer Coefficient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
12.3.5 Reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
12.3.6 Change in Present Serviceability Index (ΔPSI). . . . . . . . 287
12.4 Thickness Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
12.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
12.6 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 294
12.7 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

13 Distresses in Rigid Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

13.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
13.2 Major Distresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
13.2.1 Transverse Slab Cracking in Jointed Plain Concrete
Pavement (JPCP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
13.2.2 Transverse Joint Faulting in JPCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

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13.2.3 Punchouts in Continuously Reinforced Concrete

Pavement (CRCP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
13.2.4 Smoothness in JPCP and CRCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
13.3 Selected Minor Distresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
13.3.1 Spalling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
13.3.2 Polished Aggregates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
13.3.3 Shrinkage Cracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
13.3.4 Linear Cracking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
13.3.5 Corner Break. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
13.3.6 Blowup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
13.3.7 Pumping/Water Bleeding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
13.3.8 Other Minor Cracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
13.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
13.5 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 306
13.6 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

14 Distress Models in Rigid Pavement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307

14.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
14.2 Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
14.2.1 Transverse Slab Cracking (Bottom-Up and
Top-Down)—JPCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
14.2.2 Mean Transverse Joint Faulting—JPCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
14.2.3 Smoothness—JPCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
14.3 Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
14.3.1 CRCP Punchouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
14.3.2 Smoothness—CRCP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
14.4 Recommended Design-Performance Criteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
14.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
14.6 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 324
14.7 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

15 Rigid Pavement Design by AASHTOWare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

15.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
15.2 Pavement Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
15.3 JPCP Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
15.4 CRCP Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
15.5 Usage of the Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
15.5.1 Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
15.5.2 Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement. . . . . . . . 336
15.6 Interpretation and Analysis of the Trial Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
15.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
15.8 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 340
15.9 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
16 Drainage Design in Pavement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
16.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
16.2 Surface Drainage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

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16.2.1 Transverse Slopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

16.2.2 Longitudinal Slopes and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
16.2.3 Curbs and Gutters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
16.2.4 Calculating the Runoffs by Rational Method. . . . . . . . . 347
16.2.5 Calculating the Runoffs by U.S. Soil Conservation
Service (SCS) Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
16.2.6 Designing of Open Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
16.3 Subsurface Drainage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
16.3.1 Drainage Geometry and Permeability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
16.3.2 Computation of Subsurface Water. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
16.3.3 Thickness Design of Permeable Base. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
16.3.4 Materials Requirements for Permeable Base . . . . . . . . . 377
16.3.5 Design of Separator Layer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
16.3.6 Design of Longitudinal Collector Pipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
16.3.7 DRIP Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
16.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
16.5 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 385
16.6 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
17 Sustainable Pavement Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
17.1 Concept of Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
17.2 Role of Pavement in Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
17.3 Pavement Life Cycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
17.4 Materials Considerations for Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
17.4.1 Aggregates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
17.4.2 Asphaltic Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
17.4.3 Concrete Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
17.4.4 Other Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
17.5 Rehabilitation Design for Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
17.6 Construction Considerations for Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
17.7 Maintenance for Sustainability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
17.8 End-of-Life Considerations for Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
17.8.1 Asphalt Pavement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
17.8.2 Concrete Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
17.9 Measuring Pavement Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
17.9.1 Performance Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
17.9.2 Life-Cycle Cost Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
17.9.3 Life-Cycle Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
17.9.4 Rating System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
17.10 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400
17.11 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 401
17.12 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
18 Pavement Rehabilitation Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
18.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
18.2 Overall Condition Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
18.3 Fully Defining Condition Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

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18.4 Analysis of Pavement Evaluation Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

18.5 General Overview of Rehabilitation Design Using
AASHTOWare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
18.6 Rehabilitation Design with HMA Overlays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
18.7 Rehabilitation Design with PCC Overlays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
18.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
18.9 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 416
18.10 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

19 Geometric Design of Highways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

19.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
19.2 Cross Section of Highways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
19.3 Lane Widths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
19.4 Shoulders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
19.5 Rumble Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
19.6 Curbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
19.7 Drainage Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
19.8 Sideslopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
19.9 Traffic Barriers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
19.9.1 Longitudinal Barriers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
19.9.2 Bridge Railings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
19.9.3 Crash Cushions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
19.10 Medians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
19.11 Pedestrian Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
19.11.1 Sidewalks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
19.11.2 Grade-Separated Pedestrian Crossings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
19.11.3 Curb Ramps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
19.12 Bicycle Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
19.13 On-Street Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
19.14 Horizontal Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
19.14.1 Types of Horizontal Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
19.14.2 Simple Curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
19.14.3 Simple Curve Formulas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
19.14.4 Design of Simple Curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
19.14.5 Design Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
19.14.6 Sight Distance on Horizontal Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
19.14.7 Setting Simple Curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
19.14.8 Spiral Curves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
19.14.9 General Controls for Horizontal Alignment. . . . . . . . . . 451
19.15 Vertical Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
19.15.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
19.15.2 Equation of an Equal Tangent Vertical Curve . . . . . . . . 452
19.15.3 Sight Distances Related to Crest Vertical Curve. . . . . . 457
19.15.4 Sight Distances Related to Sag Vertical Curve. . . . . . . . 462
19.15.5 Sight Distances Related to Sag Vertical Curve at
Undercrossing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

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 xvi C o n t e n t s

19.15.6 Setting Vertical Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

19.15.7 General Controls for Vertical Alignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
19.16 Other Features Affecting Geometric Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
19.16.1 Erosion Control and Landscape Development . . . . . . . 473
19.16.2 Rest Areas, Information Centers, and Scenic
Overlooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
19.16.3 Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
19.16.4 Utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
19.17 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
19.18 Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions . . . . . 474
19.19 Practice Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476
A Global Contexts of Pavement Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
A.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
A.2 U.K. Flexible Pavement Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
A.2.1 Materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
A.2.2 Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482
A.2.3 Thickness Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
A.3 U.K. Rigid Pavement Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
A.4 Australian Flexible Pavement Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
A.5 Australian Rigid Pavement Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
A.6 South African Flexible Pavement Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
A.7 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
B Pavement Management System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
B.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
B.2 Inventory Data Collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
B.3 Pavement Condition Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
B.3.1 Distress Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
B.3.2 Developing Pavement Condition Indices. . . . . . . . . . . . 494
B.4 Pavement Performance Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
B.4.1 Performance Modeling Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
B.4.2 Family Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
B.4.3 Site-Specific Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
B.5 Treatment Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
B.5.1 Identifying Treatment Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
B.5.2 Techniques for Treatment Selection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
B.6 Presenting Pavement Management Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498
B.7 Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
B.8 Future Directions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
B.9 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
C Recycling and Rehabilitation of Pavement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
C.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
C.2 Asphalt Pavement Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
C.2.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
C.2.2 Asphalt Recycling Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502

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 Contents xvii

C.2.3 Hot Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

C.2.4 Hot In-Place Recycling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
C.2.5 Cold Planing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
C.2.6 Full-Depth Reclamation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 506
C.2.7 Cold Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
C.2.8 Summary of Rehabilitation Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
C.3 Concrete Pavement Recycling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
C.3.1 General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
C.3.2 Production of RCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
C.3.3 Properties of RCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
C.3.4 Properties of Concrete with RCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
C.3.5 Uses of RCA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
C.3.6 Considerations for Mix Design Using RCA. . . . . . . . . . 514
C.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
D Superpave Asphalt Mix Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
D.1 Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
D.2 Superpave Mix Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
D.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

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FM.indd 18 29-05-2020 19:39:51
 Preface

T
he authors are delighted to introduce this pavement design book to civil engi-
neering students. It focuses on the most recent invention in pavement design, the
pavement mechanistic-empirical (ME) design approach. Practical design exam-
ples are included in this textbook to help students understand the pavement mechanics
and models used in this new approach. Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam–style
questions are also included so that this book can be helpful for the FE examination as
well. The authors believe that this text will be valuable for understanding pavement
engineering.
Being the first edition, this book might contain some errors or confusing expla-
nations. Please send any suggestions on improving it to books.mrislam@gmail.com.
The authors will address these, with appropriate acknowledgment, in the next edition.
Thank you.
M. Rashad Islam, Ph.D., P.E.
Rafiqul A. Tarefder, Ph.D., P.E.

xix

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FM.indd 20 29-05-2020 19:39:51
 CHAPTER 1
Introduction

1.1 Background
Pavement design is one of the most important parts of transportation engineering. To
carry traffic from one place to another place comfortably, economically, and safely, an
engineering design of pavements is essential. In this textbook, the required background
knowledge about pavement materials, structural design of pavements, pavement
design software, geometric design of pavements, and pavement maintenance proce-
dures is discussed. Students are expected to be competent in pavement engineering
after mastering this book.
A highway pavement is a structure consisting of layers of natural and processed
materials above the natural ground (often called subgrade). A pavement’s primary
function is to distribute the vehicle loads from the top of the pavement to a larger area
of the subgrade without causing any damage to the subgrade. The pavement struc-
ture should be able to provide an acceptable riding quality, satisfactory skid resistance,
favorable light-reflecting characteristics, and low noise. The aim is to ensure that the
transmitted wheel loads are sufficiently reduced, so that they do not exceed the capac-
ity of all the layers of pavement including the subgrade. This chapter gives an overview
of pavement types, layers and their functions, and pavement design methods.
A pavement is expected to meet the following requirements:

• Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel-induced stresses to a reduced value

on the subgrade soil
• Structurally adequate to keep the cracking and deformation within tolerable
limits
• 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 the expected speed
• Produces least noise from moving vehicles
• Dust and waterproof surface for avoiding reduced visibility
• Drains water laterally or vertically without washing layer particles
• Long service life with a desirable level of comfort considering the economy

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 2 Chapter One

1.2  Pavement Types

Two types of pavements are generally recognized: flexible pavement and rigid pave-
ment, as shown in Fig. 1.1. A combination of these two pavements is also possible, and
is termed composite pavement. Simply, a layer of asphalt layer can be placed on top of a
concrete layer to create a composite pavement.

1.2.1  Flexible Pavements

Flexible pavements are usually surfaced with asphalt materials. These pavements are
called flexible because the pavement structures can flex or bend under a traffic loading.
A flexible pavement structure requires several layers of materials because these layers
are not stiff enough to distribute the wheel load to a large area (Fig. 1.2). Beneath the
asphalt layer, a crushed aggregate base layer is commonly seen. Below the base layer,
a subbase layer is also used based on the subgrade strength. The natural subgrade
soil can be improved by compaction or mixing of some improved soil, asphalt mill-
ings, low-quality aggregate based on the availability of these materials, and degree of
improvement required.

Flexible pavement Rigid pavement

Figure 1.1  Flexible and rigid pavements.

Asphalt layer PCC layer

Base layer Base layer

Subbase layer

Load is distributed to a larger area

Load is distributed to a small area
Flexible pavement Rigid pavement

Figure 1.2  Deformation behavior of flexible and rigid pavements.

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 Introduction 3

1.2.2  Rigid Pavements

Rigid pavements are composed of reinforced or non-reinforced portland cement con-
crete (PCC) surface course. Such pavements are stiffer than flexible pavements due
to the high modulus of elasticity [typically 3,000–4,000 ksi (21–28 GPa) for PCC and
500–1,000 ksi (3.4–6.9 GPa) for asphalt layer] of the PCC material. These pavements can
have reinforcing steel to reduce thermal cracking or eliminate joints. Each of these pave-
ment types distributes load over the subgrade in a different fashion. Rigid pavement,
because of PCC’s high elastic modulus, tends to distribute the load over a relatively
wide area of a subgrade (see Fig. 1.2). The concrete slab itself supplies most of a rigid
pavement’s structural capacity. On the other hand, a flexible pavement having a low
modulus distributes loads over a smaller area. It requires a thicker pavement, which
is achieved through a combination of thin layers due to field compaction difficulty of
constructing a thicker layer.
Compared to flexible pavements, rigid pavements are placed either directly on
the prepared subgrade or on a single layer of granular or stabilized material called
base course. On a rigid pavement, a load is distributed by the slab action, in which the
pavement behaves like an elastic plate resting on an elastic medium. Rigid pavements
should be analyzed by plate theory instead of layer theory, assuming an elastic plate
resting on an elastic foundation. Plate theory assumes the concrete slab as a medium-
thick plate that is plane before loading and remains plane after loading. Bending of
the slab due to wheel load and temperature variation causes tensile and flexural stress
within the pavement layers.
Rigid pavements can be classified into four types:

1. Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP)

2. Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP)
3. Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP)
4. Prestressed concrete pavement (PCP)

Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP)

Jointed plain concrete pavement (Fig. 1.3) uses plain concrete slabs without any rein-
forcement and it has transverse and longitudinal joints between slabs. Dowel bars are
typically used at transverse joints to assist in load transfer. Epoxy-coated bars with a
diameter of 1.0 or 1.5 in. (2.50 or 3.75 cm) and length of 18 in. (45 cm) are widely used
in JPCP. Currently, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) dowel bars are being used to avoid
corrosion (FHWA-HRT-06-106) (FHWA, 2009). Dowel bars are placed in male-female
fashion so that no tensile stress develops when a slab contracts. More clearly, dowel
bars are tightly bonded to one slab and axially move freely in another slab. This action
just transfers the load from one slab to another. However, no tensile stress is developed
during the contraction of the slabs. Transverse joint spacing is selected such that tem-
perature and moisture stresses do not produce intermediate cracking between joints.
This typically results in a spacing no longer than about 20 ft (6 m). Tie bars are typically
used at longitudinal joints or between an edge joint and a curb or shoulder for holding
faces of rigid slabs in contact to maintain aggregate interlock. Tie bars are not load-
transferring device, but they transfer some loads. Tie bars are about 0.5 in. (12.5 mm) in
diameter and between 24 and 40 in. (0.6 and 1.0 m) long.

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 4 Chapter One

Tie bars at longitudinal joint

Traffic direction
Dowel bars at transverse joint

Tie bars

Dowel bars

Setting dowel bars Pouring concrete

Figure 1.3  Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) in Route 219, Elkins, WV. (Courtesy of FHWA (2009).
FHWA-HRT-06-106. Design and Evaluation of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement with Fiber Reinforced
Polymer Dowels. McLean, VA: Office of Research and Technology Services, Federal Highway Administration.)

Faulting: Elevation difference Pumping: Ejection of water through joint

Figure 1.4  Faulting and pumping phenomena.

In JPCP pavements, if no dowel bars are provided or if inadequate amount of

dowel bars are provided, then load transfer across the joint causes substantially higher
stresses and deflections due to joint loading than those due to interior loading (Fig. 1.4).
A dowel bar transfers a portion of the applied wheel load from the loaded slab across
the joint to the adjacent unloaded slab. Load transfer through dowel bars significantly

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 Introduction 5
reduces stresses and deflections due to joint loading and minimizes faulting and pump-
ing. Faulting is a difference in elevation across the joint of two slabs, while pumping
is defined as the expulsion of subgrade material through joints and along the edges of
the pavement.

Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP)

Jointed reinforced concrete pavement is similar to the JPCP with the exception that
some reinforced is used in the concrete slabs to control cracking with contraction joints.
Using reinforced slabs, transverse joint spacing can be provided longer than that for
JPCP and ranges from about 25 ft (7.5 m) to 50 ft (15 m). Temperature and moisture
stresses are expected to cause cracking between joints. Reinforcing steel or a steel mesh
is used to avoid these cracks or hold these cracks tightly together. Dowel bars are typi-
cally used at transverse joints to assist in load transfer.

Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)

Continuous reinforced concrete pavement completely eliminates the transverse joints,
except as required at end-of-day construction and at bridge approaches and transi-
tions to other pavement structures, by providing continuous reinforcement as shown in
Fig. 1.5. In newly constructed CRCP, volumetric change occurs due to cement hydration,

Placing reinforcement Reinforcement ready for concrete

Pouring concrete Compaction

Figure 1.5  Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) construction. (Courtesy of FHWA
(2016). FHWA-HIF-16-026. Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement Manual: Guidelines for
Design, Construction, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation. McLean, VA: Office of Research and
Technology Services, Federal Highway Administration.)

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 6 Chapter One

Figure 1.6  Prestressed concrete panel being placed over a base. (Courtesy of FHWA (2009).
FHWA-HIF-09-008. Concrete Pavement Technology Program (CPTP) TechBrief. McLean, VA: Office of
Research and Technology Services, Federal Highway Administration.)

thermal effects, and external drying. This volumetric change is restrained by the under-
neath base layer creating tensile stresses in the CRCP. Due to this developed tensile
stresses, full-depth transverse cracks form and divide the pavement into short, indi-
vidual slabs. However, CRCP provides long-term and high load transfer across the
transverse cracks, resulting in a smooth and quiet ride.

Prestressed Concrete Pavement (PCP)

Prestressed concrete pavement is built using precast concrete pavement slabs that are
fabricated at manufacturers’ plant and transported to and installed at the project site.
PCP is very applicable in busy areas where high traffic volume requires stronger pave-
ment and construction time is very challenging considering traffic controls. Panels
(Fig. 1.6) are manufactured in sizes to match the width of one, two, or three lanes of the
pavement permitting one or multiple lanes of an existing pavement to be reconstructed
at one time. Panels are pretensioned in the longer direction during fabrication, and
post-tensioned together in groups longitudinally (in the direction of traffic). Thus, the
installed slabs act as a continuous slab.

1.3  Design Philosophy of Pavements

The design philosophy of a pavement is quite different from the other classical civil
engineering structures such as steel structures, reinforced concrete structures, and so
on. These classical structures are designed such that they do not show any crack, signifi-
cant deformation, or collapse during the service life. For example, a concrete beam in a
building is not expected to show any crack. However, a pavement structure is designed
with the consideration that there might be many cracks or some permanent deforma-
tion, and or roughness, during its service life, as shown in Fig. 1.7. However, these

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 Introduction 7

Figure 1.7  Cracked pavements in service.

distress severities are expected to be within some tolerable limits set by the designers.
The threshold values of distresses are determined considering the riding quality, safety,
and economy. This means even after showing some distresses, pavement structures
provide some services for some time.

1.4  Major Pavement Design Methods

Two major pavement design guides used in the United States are the American
Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) 1993 pavement
design guide and the AASHTOWare pavement mechanistic-empirical (ME) design
guide, also known as pavement ME design. They are briefly described in this section.

1.4.1  The AASHTO 1993 Pavement Design Guide

The AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures (AASHTO, 1993) was developed
based on field performance data collected from the American Association of State
Highway Officials (AASHO) road test project during 1956–1960 at Ottawa, IL, shown
in Fig. 1.8. That project focused on the performance of pavement structures of known
thickness under moving loads of known magnitude and frequency. It consisted of six
two-lane loops along the alignment of Interstate 80 (I-80). The pavement structure
within each loop was varied so that the interaction of vehicle loads with pavement
structure could be investigated. The results from the AASHO road test were used to
develop some regression equations for a pavement design guide, first issued in 1961
as the AASHO Interim Guide for the Design of Rigid and Flexible Pavements, with major
updates issued in 1972, 1986, and 1993. The 1993 version (Fig. 1.9a) was in widespread
use in the world until the AASHTOWare pavement ME design came out in 2008. The
design philosophy of the AASHTO (1993) method is to limit vertical stress on subgrade
within a tolerable limit. It does not consider the performance of the pavement such as
cracking, rutting, and smoothness with its service life.
The AASHTO 1993 design method is purely empirical. The design equations, meth-
odology, reliability, etc. were developed based on the road test data from Ottawa, IL.
However, the climate, materials, and traffic behavior in that test section are not similar

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 8 Chapter One

Figure 1.8  AASHO road test in 1958–1960 in Ottawa, IL.

(a) AASHTO 1993 guide (b) AASHTOWare pavement ME design software

Figure 1.9  Pavement design guides.

to other areas in the United States or in any other countries. In fact, the climate varies
city to city, material behavior varies pavement site to pavement site, traffic behavior
(speed, distribution, load spectra, etc.) changes highway to highway. In addition, the
material and traffic condition change with time. More specifically, the climate, materials,
and traffic in a city in Illinois are not similar to another city (e.g., New York City). Even
the climate, materials, and traffic in a city in Illinois in 1950 and at present are not the
same. Therefore, the AASHTO 1993 method is not appropriate to other pavement sites.

1.4.2  The AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) Design Guide

To overcome the limitations of the AASHTO 1993 pavement design guide, a new
mechanistic-empirical (ME) method was started to develop about the year 2000.
The advancements in computational tools and invention of performance models enable

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 Introduction 9
pavement designers to predict certain distress more accurately. These performance
models use mechanistic pavement responses (such as stress and strain) while conduct-
ing analysis and design. The AASHTOWare pavement ME design (also termed pavement
ME design) was officially implemented in 2008 as the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement
Design Guide (MEPDG) under NCHRP project 1-37A (AASHTO, 2015; NCHRP, 2004).
This guide has been improved to a new version with the new name of the AASHTOWare
pavement ME design software. Different sequences of the AASHTOWare pavement ME
design software are listed below:

• First released in 2004 as an experiment with the name of Design Guide 2002 (DG
2002)
• Revised in 2008 with the revised name of Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design
Guide (MEPDG)
• Further revised in 2011 and renamed as Design, Analysis and Rehabilitation for
Windows (DARWin ME)
• Further revised in 2013 and renamed as AASHTOWare pavement ME design
(Fig. 1.9b)

The latest version of the AASHTOWare pavement ME design software is avail-

able at https://me-design.com/MEDesign/. The AASHTOWare pavement ME design
software approach considers the performance of pavement with its service life. More
specifically, the AASHTOWare pavement ME design software first analyzes a trial pave-
ment section for possible stress-strain for an applied load using the software built-in
numerical analysis program. Using the stress-strain data, the software predicts the
amount of cracking, rutting, and smoothness during its service life. If the trial pave-
ment section is found to predict less or equal to the threshold amount of distress during
its service life, it is considered adequate. If otherwise, the pavement section or layers are
revised and trial continues. After several trials, an optimum section is reached consider-
ing demand and economy.
The input levels available in the AASHTOWare pavement ME design software
method depend on the availability of the input parameters at hand. Three levels are
available for materials and traffic parameters:

• Level 1. Level 1 is used for pavement design with the greatest accuracy. All
or most of the input parameters such as material density, modulus, strength,
traffic volume, traffic distribution, axle load spectra, climate, etc. are measured
directly for the site or project.
• Level 2. Level 2 input parameters represent measured regional average values.
The input parameters and the calibration coefficients of the software are
estimated from correlations or regression equations developed based on local
or state-level conditions.
• Level 3. Most of the input parameters and the calibration coefficients of the
software are ME default values, which are based on global or regional default
values. This input level is the least accurate, and commonly used in noncrucial
pavements.

In the next few chapters, materials properties required for pavement design are
discussed. For better understanding of these materials properties, knowledge of the

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 10 Chapter One

AASHTOWare pavement ME design input levels is essential. The input level to be used
in the AASHTOWare pavement ME design method depends on the availability of the
input parameters at hand.

1.4.3  Other Design Methods

Some other design methods such as Asphalt Institute (AI) method and local methods
are also available. These methods are not discussed here as these methods are obsolete
and have no trace of being used now-a-days. Noncritical local roads or parking lots
might be designed using these methods.

1.4.4  International Design Methods

Pavement design methodologies in different countries of the world are different. Some
of the design methodologies followed in certain countries are discussed in App. A.

1.5  Other Design Considerations

Besides the structural design of pavement, some other essential components of design
need to be considered: for example, drainage design to save pavement material from
moisture damage, and geometric design for passengers’ comfort and safety. Drainage
design includes design and selection of drainage materials section, installation, and
slopping (grading) of pavement. Geometric design includes designing vertical and
horizontal curves for passengers’ comfort and safety. Safety measure also includes
pavement marking, rumble strips, barriers, etc. The designs of these components are
discussed in later chapters of this textbook.

1.6 Summary
This chapter is the introduction to pavements, types, design methods, and philoso-
phies. Pavement structure consists of layers of materials and compacted in place to pro-
vide a smooth surface to drive traffic comfortably, efficiently, economically, and safely.
Different layers of pavement serve different purposes. The main purpose of all layers is
to distribute the tire load to a larger area of natural soil.
Pavements are classified into two broad categories: flexible and rigid. The combina-
tion of flexible and rigid pavements is also possible and known as composite pavement.
Flexible pavements use asphalt materials in the surface layer, which flexes with load
and temperatures, whereas rigid pavements use PCC slab as a surface layer, which
are less flexible under loads. Rigid pavements can be further classified into four types:
JPCP, JRCP, CRCP, and PCP.
Pavement structures are designed with the consideration that there might be cracks,
some permanent deformations, roughness, etc. during its service life. Two major pave-
ment design guides used in the United States are the AASHTO 1993 design guide,
which is empirical in nature, and the AASHTOWare pavement ME design guide, which
is mechanistic-empirical in nature. The AASHTO 1993 method is decreasing its popu-
larity and the AASHTOWare pavement ME design is rocketing up its popularity.

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 Introduction 11

1.7  Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam–Style Questions

FE1.1  A pavement is NOT expected to meet the requirement of:
A. Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel-induced stresses to a reduced value on the
subgrade
B. Structurally adequate to keep the cracking and deformation within tolerable limits
C. Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it
D. Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles
E. Optimum traffic signal timing for efficient passage of vehicles
Solution E
Traffic signal timing is not covered in pavement design.

FE1.2  A pavement has 3.0-in. (75-mm) asphalt layer underlain by a 4.0-in. (100-mm) PCC layer.
The pavement is a:
A. Flexible pavement
B. Rigid pavement
C. Composite pavement
D. Asphalt pavement
Solution C
Flexible pavement consists of asphalt layer only. Rigid pavement consists of PCC layer only.
Composite pavement consists of both asphalt and PCC layers.

FE1.3  The AASHTOWare pavement ME design method is:

A. Empirical in nature
B. Mechanistic in nature
C. Mechanistic-empirical in nature
D. Scientific in nature
Solution C
The AASHTOWare pavement ME design method is mechanistic-empirical in nature. The
developed stress-strain in pavement is determined using mechanics, but the amount of distress is
predicted using empirical equations.

1.8  Practice Problems

1.1 List some requirements of pavements.
1.2 Classify the types of pavements.

1.3 Define and state the purpose of tie bars and dowel bars.

1.4 Differentiate the faulting and pumping phenomena.

1.5 Discuss the major two pavement design methods.

1.6 What are the three input levels of the AASHTOWare pavement ME design method?

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