4.

PAVEMENT DESIGN
The pavement design process is the technique of developing a
combination of top layers of different materials to cater for the total axle
load over the design life of a road. In other words this is an art through
which the stresses as induced in to layers of a road due to movement
of heavy wheel load is disseminated and minimized to a safe level
through selection of different type and appropriate thickness of
pavement layers.
In order to carryout pavement design, following parameters in terms of
axle loading and soil strength are required:

4.4.1 Equivalent Axle Loads

The damage caused by vehicles to a road depends on the axle loads
and wheel configuration of the vehicles. It is therefore important to
determine the axle loads of heavy commercial vehicles in the projected
traffic mix (Refer Traffic data) that is likely to use proposed roads.
In order to determine the cumulative axle load damage that a
pavement will sustain during its design life, it is necessary to express
the total number of heavy vehicles that will use the road during the
design period in terms of the cumulative number of Equivalent Single
Axles Load (ESALs).
I.

Design Life
Design life is the number of years reckoned from the completion of
pavement construction and application of traffic load until the time
when major maintenance is required so that it can continue to carry
traffic satisfactorily for further period.
A design period of 20 years has been adopted. However for asphalt
layers, stage construction is suggested; the asphalt requirement for ten
years design life is ascertained and shall be placed so that the
4-1

pavement can perform satisfactorily for 10years. After 10 years, the

fresh traffic count will be taken and pavement condition survey will be
conducted to ascertain distress in the pavement. Accordingly asphaltic
overlay will be placed without adding in the granular layers.
II.

Cumulative Equivalent Single Axle Loads

Traffic load is converted into Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESALs).
ESALs is related to a standard axle of 8.16 tones (18000 lbs), using
equivalence factors, which have been derived from empirical studies.
The ESALs as worked out for roads with different ROWs within Design
Life (Refer Annexure-A) are as under;
Table 4.5 Equivalent Single Axle Loads
Sr. No.
.

R.O.W

1
2
3

61m
36m
25m

ESALs
10 Years

20 Years

10.5
3.32
2.3

36
10
7

4.4.2 Design CBR

The design of pavement is based on the Subgrade Soaked CBR 14 at
95% Modified AASHTO material for the project. The detail is provided
in the Geotechnical Investigations Report attached as Annexure C.
4.4.3 Design Methodology
The pavement design has been carried out as per AASHTO guide
(1993) based on the following main parameters.

4.4.3.1

AASHTO Procedure for Pavement Design

The AASHTO Guide for Pavement Design 1993 outlines this procedure
for determination of flexible pavement thickness by solving AASHTO
equations manually, by using different nomographs or by using the
computer software. For accuracy the computer program is preferred. In
all options basically the Structure Number (SN) required to be assigned
4-2

to the proposed pavement structure for a given set of conditions is

determined by solving the following numerical equation:

The estimated future traffic in terms of ESALs for the design period,
W18
The reliability level, R
Standard normal deviate Value, ZR
The overall standard deviation, So
The roadbed soil resilient modulus, MR
The design serviceability loss, PSI = Po Pt
The ESALs have been provided at Table 4.5. The other general design
variables have been discussed in the following paragraphs.
4.4.3.2

Reliability (R)

Design reliability refers to the degree of certainty that a given design

alternative will last for the entire design period. A design reliability level
of 90% has been adopted for pavement design of the Project Road.
4.4.3.3

Standard Deviation (SO)

The reliability factor is a function of the overall standard deviation that

accounts for standard variation in materials and construction, the
probable variation in the traffic prediction and the normal variation in
pavement performance for a given design traffic application. The
recommended value of standard deviation for total variation in material
properties and in traffic estimation for flexible pavement is 0.45 and has
been adopted for pavement design of project road.

4-3

4.4.3.4

Standard Normal Deviation (ZR)

The value corresponding to reliability (R) of 90% is -1.282 which has

been adopted in the design based on the recommended values of
standard normal deviation (ZR) by AASHTO Guide 1993.
4.4.3.5

Performance Criteria

The serviceability of a pavement is defined as its ability to serve the

type of traffic that uses the facility. Initial and terminal serviceability
indices have been established to compute the total change in
serviceability that will be used in the design equations.

I.

Initial Serviceability Index (Po)

The initial serviceability index is a function of pavement design and

construction quality. For flexible pavement design typical value as
recommended by AASHTO Road Test is 4.2 which has been adopted.

II.

Terminal Serviceability Index (Pt)

The terminal serviceability index is the lowest index that will be
tolerated before rehabilitation, resurfacing or reconstruction becomes
necessary and it generally varies with the importance or functional
classification of the pavement. Recommended value of terminal
serviceability index is 1.7 for the project road.

4.4.3.6

Resilient Modulus MR

The basis for material characterization in the AASHTO Guide

1993 is Elastic or Resilient Modulus (MR). In the absence of
necessary equipment required to determine resilient modulus of

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subgrade, following correlation between CBR and M R has been

used.
MR = 2555 (CBR) 0.64
4.4.3.7

Where MR is resilient modulus in psi.

Computation of Required Pavement Thickness

The structural number (SN) requirement as determined through

adoption of design parameters as discussed above is balanced by
providing adequate pavement structure. Under AASHTO design
procedure the following equation provides the means for
converting the structural number into actual thicknesses of
surfacing, base and subbase materials:
SN = a1 D1 + a2 D2 m2 + a3 D3 m3
where:
a1, a2, a3

layer coefficients representative of

surface, base and subbase
courses respectively

D1, D2, D3 =

actual thicknesses (in inches) of

surface, base and subbase
courses respectively

m2, m3

drainage coefficients for base and

subbase layers respectively

4.4.3.8

Recommended Values of Layer Coefficients

Asphaltic Wearing Course, a1= 0.40 / inch

(0.157 / cm)

Asphaltic Base Course, a1 = 0.40 / inch

(0.157 / cm)

Aggregate Base Course, a2 = 0.13 / inch

(0.051 / cm)

4-5

Granular Subbase, a3
4.4.3.9

= 0.125 / inch

(0.049 / cm)

Pavement Thickness

The pavement thicknesses thus worked out exploiting AASHTO

approach for pavement design are as under, subject to
enforcement of Load restrictions:
Table 4.6 Pavement Thickness for Road (ROW : 61 m)

LAYER
Asphaltic Concrete
Wearing Course
Asphaltic Concrete Base
Course
Aggregate Base Course
Subbase Course
Subgrade CBR 14% at
95% MDD

LAYER
THICKNESS
(cm)
5
12
25
15

Table 4.7 Pavement Thickness for Road (ROW : 36 m)

LAYER
Asphaltic Concrete Wearing
Course
Asphaltic Concrete Base
Course
Aggregate Base Course
Subbase Course
Subgrade CBR 14% at 95%
MDD

LAYER
THICKNESS
(cm)
5
9
25
15

4-6

Table 4.8 Pavement Thickness for Road (ROW : 25 m and 18m)

LAYER
THICKNESS
(cm)

LAYER
Asphaltic Concrete
Wearing Course
Asphaltic Concrete Base
Course
Aggregate Base Course

5
8
25

Subbase Course
Subgrade CBR 14% at
95% MDD

20

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
The geotechnical investigations revealed that soil consist of Lean Clay,
Sandy Lean Clay & Sandy Silty Clay. For the construction of the sub
grade soil with CBR value of 14 and 95% Modified AASHTO should be
used. Whereas it would be desirable to use materials with minimum
CBR values of 50% and 80% for sub-base and water bound macadam,
respectively. For a roadway to perform well, it is imperative that the
subgrade for the roadway should be competent to support the
anticipated traffic loads. It is, therefore recommended that the
subgrade should be properly prepared to meet the design CBR. In
order to meet this requirement, all the areas that will support roadway,
should be properly cleared and grubbed by removing any top soil. Any
wet, soft or loose soils pockets should also be replaced with improved
soil, as the result of proof-rolling.
For layer thickness and compaction following levels are recommended
for various pavement elements.

Material Type
Water Bound Macadam

Maximum
Compacted Layer
Thickness (cm)

Recommended
Modified AASHTO
Compaction (%)

10

100

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Sub-base

10

98

Upper 30 cm (subgrade)

15

95

30 cm-70 cm (fill)

15

93

Below 70 cm (fill)

15

90

Sab-base & general fill

4-8

i)

Approach Roads
The project site is adjacent to Motorway M-2.Two approach roads have
been proposed to provide access to the apparel park. The one is
proposed from existing bridge after 200m from Upper Chenab (UC)
canal and second from Sheikhupura Interchange. Each approach road
is about 2.5 km long. Approach roads are shown in Figure. 4.2

Figure 4.2 Approach Road

Design of interchange and approach road are being carried out by
some other departments (C& W Punjab, NHA)

ii) Typical Cross Sections

Road Cross-sections are shown in Figure 4.3 to Figure 4.5. Widths
allocated to different components of the roads along with the crosssection are provided in the Table 4.5.

Table 4.5 Cross Sectional Details of Roads

4-9

WIDTH OF
ROAD

R.O.W

CARRIAGE
WAY

TYPE

LANE

WIDTH OF

WIDTH

SHOULDERS

WIDTH
OF
MEDIAN

WIDTH OF
FOOTPATH

WIDTH OF

WIDTH OF

SERVICE

UTILITY

ROAD

CORRIDOR

(m)

(m)

(m)

(m)

(m)

(m)

(m)

(m)

61

10.8

3.6

7.4

Secondary

36

7.2

3.6

4.6

4.5

Tertiary

25

3.6

3.6

4.9

Approach
Roads/Main
Roads

4 - 10

150mm

150mm

Figure 4.3 Typical X-Section of 25m R.O.W

150mm

Figure 4.4 Typical X-Section of 36m R.O.W

Figure 4.5 Typical X-Section of 61m R.O.W

4 - 11

4 - 12