Chapter Two

PAVEMENT DESIGN
AASHTO METHOD
AASHTO FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Traffic Load
Equivalent Standard Axle Load (ESAL)
ESAL = AADT0 x T x Tr x G x D x L x 365 x Y

where, AADT0 = the annual average daily traffic at the start of design period
T = the percentage of trucks
D = the directional distribution factor
L = the lane distribution factor
Y = the design period (in years)
G = the growth factor; G (1 r )
0.5Y
, r = yearly rate of traffic growth
m
Tr = truck factor; Tr p i Fi ( A) pi = the percentage of total repetition
i 1 Fi = the equivalent axle load factor (EALF)
A = the average number of axles per truck

4
L
EALF x , Lx = load on a single axle
L
q Lq = load on standard axles
AASHTO FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Pavement Serviceability
Pavement Serviceability Index (PSI)
Initial PSIi = 4.0 to 4.5
Terminal PSIt = 2.5 to 3.0 (expressways/highways); 2.0 (local roads)

Reliability
Based on functional classification and location (rural/urban)

Recommended level of
Functional Classification reliability (%)
Urban Rural
Interstate and other freeway 85 99.9 80 99.9
Principal arterials 80 99 75 95
Collectors 80 95 75 95
Local 50 80 50 80
AASHTO FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Traffic/Performance Variation
Standard deviation (So) presents the designers ability to predict variations in
traffic and pavement performance
So is usually 0.3 - 0.5

Subgrade Property
Resilient Modulus (MR )

Subbase, Base and Surface Properties

Resilient Modulus (MR )
Structural Coefficients (a)

Environmental Effects
Exposure to moisture, quality of drainage
Drainage coefficient (m)
 AASHTO FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN
PROCEDURE

PSI MR SN a m
Design Resilient Structural Structural Drainage
serviceability Modulus of Number of Coefficients Coefficients
loss subgrade, surface, base of surface, of surface,
subbase and and subbase base and base and
base subbase subbase

Determination of Thickness of Pavement Layers

AASTHO flexible pavement design method (objectives)
Know the factors considered in the AASHTO
design method
Become familiar with use of Tables 20.13a and b
through 20.18 and Figures 20.15 through 20.20
Know how the structural numbers are used in
thickness determination
Become thoroughly familiar with the structural
design process of the AASHTO flexible pavement
design method
Design considerations for the
AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design
The following factors are considered in the pavement
thickness design.
Pavement performance
Traffic
Roadbed soils (subgrade material)
Materials of construction
Environment
Drainage
Reliability
Pavement performance
Structural Cracking, faulting, raveling, etc.

Functional Riding comfort (measured in terms of roughness of

pavement.)

Serviceability Performance: Measured by PSI Present Serviceability

Index with scale 0 to 5.

5 Just constructed 4.2 Initial PSI (pi)

Terminal PSI (pt)

PSI 2.5 to 3.0 for major

highways
2.0 for lower class
highways
0 Road closed
1.5 for very special cases
 Traffic
In the AASHTO flexible pavement design, traffic is considered in
terms of ESAL for the terminal PSI (Table 20.13 for pt = 2.5.)
You must assume the structural number of the pavement. So, you
must check if the final SN3 is similar to the assumed SN. Higher SN
means stronger pavement, thus the impact of traffic on pavement
deteriorations is less.
 Roadbed soils (Subgrade material)

CBR (California Bearing Ratio), R-value (Resistance), and Mr (Resilient

modulus) are used to describe the property of the subgrade material.
During the structural design, only Mr values are used. The following
conversion formulas are used if either CBR or R-values are given.

Mr (lb/in2) = 1500 x CBR for fine-grain soils with soaked CBR of 10 or

less.
Mr (lb/in2) = 1000 + 555 x (R-value) for R <= 20
 Materials of construction (Subbase), a3
Charts are available to convert the properties of pavement construction
materials to structural numbers: a3, a2, and a1

Use CBR, R-value, or Mr to find

a3 values
Structural number of the
subbase, a3
Materials of construction (Base course), a2

Base!

Use CBR, R-value, or Mr to find

a2 values

Structural number of the

base course, a2
 Materials of construction (AC surface), a1

0.44

Structural number of the

AC surface, a1

= Resilient modulus, Mr
 Step 1 Environment
Temperature and rainfall
affect the level of strength of
the subgrade, reflected on
the value of resilient
modulus. AASHTO
developed a chart that helps
you to estimate the effective
roadbed soil resilient
modulus using the
serviceability criteria (in
terms of relative damage,
uf.)
Determine the average uf.
value and obtain Mr from the
chart or the equation of uf. .
Step 2 The bar on the right is used
twice: Once to read uf value
Step 3 for each months sample Mr,
then to read annual average
Drainage
The effect of drainage on the performance of flexible pavements is considered
with respect to the effect water has on the strength of the base material and
roadbed soil.
This effect is expressed by the drainage coefficient, mi. This value is
dependent on the drainage quality and the percent of time pavement structure is
exposed to moisture levels approaching saturation.
Definition of drainage quality and finding
recommended mi values

Time required to
drain the
base/subbase
Step 1 layer to 50%
saturation.

If Fair and
30% exposure,
then mi is 0.80.

Step 2
 Why do we have a negative sign here? Are ZR
Reliability values negative? Why not ZRSo! Well the clue is in
Eq. 20-13 and the bell curve shown below.

The reliability factor (FR) is computed using:

The Reliability design level (R%), which determine assurance
levels that the pavement section designed using the procedure will
survive for its design period (it is a z-score from the standard normal
distribution
the standard deviation (So) that accounts for the chance variation
in the traffic forecast and the chance variation in actual pavement
performance for a given design period traffic, W18.
log10 FR Z R So
One-sided Z- SD, So
score is used
here. Flexible 0.40-0.5
pavements
Fail Surviv
e Rigid 0.30-0.40
pavements
 Structural design
The object of the design using the AASHTO method is to determine a
flexible pavement SN adequate to carry the projected design ESAL.
The method discussed in the text (Example 20-8) applies to ESALs
greater than 50,000 for the performance period. The design for ESALs
less than this is usually considered under low-volume roads.
log10 W18 Z R S o 9.36 log10 SN 1 0.20
log10 PSI /( 4.2 1.5)


0.40 1094 /( SN 1)5.19 Where,
2.32 log10 M r 8.07
SN a1D1 a2 D2 m2 a3 D3m3

Simplify this as f(W18) = f(ZRSo) + f(SN)

We will keep the ESAL value constant and try to prove whether ZR
must be negative or not. Note that So and SN are always positive.
Standard deviation is always positive because it is a physical
difference from the mean value, and SN is also positive because it
means pavement thickness.
 Solving the riddle of the negative values of ZR
f(W18) = f(ZRSo) + f(SN)

ESAL is an estimated value. It may actually more or less. In the design

formula, however, the ESAL value is set to a constant. Then to make sure the
pavement survive, you have to have a thicker one than the thickness that the
estimated ESAL requires. To make that happen in the design formula, we need
to subtract a value from the RHS. Hence, the reliability factor must be
negative. The only way to make ZRSo smaller is to have a negative value of ZR
How to use Fig. 20.20 to get structural
numbers based on Eq. 20.13
For For base
subbase, course,
Mr=13,500 Mr=31,000

SN1= 2.6

This line is for the SN3= 4.4

subgrade in
SN2= 3.8
Example 20-8. This line has nothing to
Mr=1500*6=9000 do with Example 20-8.
Once SN value is set, thickness design begins
SN a1D1 a2 D2 m2 a3 D3m3
SN1 a1D1
Proceed in SN2 a1D1 a2 D2 m2
this direction
SN3 a1D1 a2 D2 m2 a3 D3m3
Use Fig.20.15 for a3, Fig.20.16 for a2, Fig.20.17 for a3, and Tab.
20.14 and 20.15 m2 and m3. Find the depth that results in a SN
value close to the SN value obtained from Fig. 20.20.
Determination of Thickness of Pavement Layers

Surface Base Subbase

Example 20-8
Given: Parameter values:
ESAL = 2 x 106 Reliability level (R ) = 99%
from Tab. 20.16
One week for water to be
drained Standard Deviation (So) =
0.49, Table 20.16, p.973
Saturation level moisture
exposure = 30% of the time Initial serviceability, pi = 4.5
ACs Mr at 68Fo = 450,000 lb/in2 Terminal serviceability, pt =
2.5
CBR of base course =100, Mr =
31,000 lb/in2 Drainage mi values = 0.8 for
Fair category in Tab. 20.14
CBR of subbase =22, Mr =
and Greater than 25%
13,500 lb/in2
category in Tab. 20.15
CBR of subgrade = 6, Mr =
1500CBR= 6*1500 = 9000 lb/in2
Rural interstate
Example question

Determine the thickness of the surface, base and subbase layers using the
following design parameters:

Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) = 2 x 106

Initial Present Serviceability Index (PSIi) = 4.5
Terminal Present Serviceability Index (PSIt) = 2.5
Resilient modulus of asphalt concrete (MR1) = 450,000 psi
CBR of crushed stone base = 100%
CBR of gravel subbase = 22%
CBR of subgade = 6%
Exposure to moisture = 30% of the time
Quality of drainage: Surface layer Good
Base layer Fair
Subbase layer Fairly poor
Reliability (R) = 99%
Standard deviation, So = 0.35
Example Question;

Given the following data, design the thickness of the surface, base and subbase layers of a flexible
pavement using AASHTO Method:

Type of road = 4-lane highway

Design period = 10 years
Annual Average Daily Traffic projected for 1st year in service = 8,000 veh/day (of which 12% are trucks)
60% Northbound traffic, 40% Southbound traffic
70% on the outer-lane, 30% on the inner-lane
Truck factor = 0.32
Traffic growth rate = 4% per year
Initial Present Serviceability Index = 4.5
Terminal Present Serviceability Index = 3.0
Resilient modulus of asphalt concrete surface = 425,000 psi
Resilient modulus of granular base = 30,000 psi
Resilient modulus of gravel subbase = 12,000 psi
California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of subgrade = 5%
Exposure to moisture = 30%
Drainage quality of surface layer = Good
Drainage quality of base and subbase layers = Fairly Good
Reliability, R = 95%
Standard deviation, So = 0.40
Rigid Pavement
Aashto rigid pavement, 1993
W18 = 18-kip equivalent single axle loads
Zr = Reliability (z-statistic from standard normal curve)
So = Overall standard deviation of traffic
D = PCC slab thickness in inches
TSI = Terminal Pavements serviceability index
PSI=Loss in serviceability from the time when the pavement is new
until it reaches its TSI
Sc = Concrete modulus of rupture
Cd = Drainage coefficient
J = Load transfer coefficient
Ec = Concrete elastic modulus in lb / in
3
K = Soil modulus of subgrade reaction in lb / in
Exercise submit before midnight
20/3/2017
The flexible pavement is designed to serve total ESAL
= 5,0 x 106. Sub-grade modulus
Mr = 5000 psi. Elastic resilient Modulus of surface
layer EAC = 360.000 psi, Base coarse of crushed stone
has CBR = 85 and sub base layer with CBR = 20. It is
given that initial serviceability index Po = 4,2 and
terminal serviceability indeks Pt = 2.5.
Drainage coefficient for base layer m2 = 1,2 and sub-
base layer m3 = 1. Reliability level R = 95 % and Overall
standard deviation So = 0,35. Determine the thickness
of each layers of the pavement by AASHTO method.