Flexible pavement design by CBR

This method is used to determine the total thickness of pavement. Generally there are two
methods to design the pavement from CBR (California bearing ratio) value. They are
1. CBR method recommended by California state of highways
2. CBR method recommended by IRC

CBR method recommended by California State of highways:

Data required for flexible pavement design:

a) CBR value of sub base course
b) CBR value of soil subgrade
c) CBR value of base course
d) Wheel load in KG or KN
e) Wheel load is classified into three groups based on traffic conditions.

o Light traffic(3175 KG)

o Medium traffic(4082 KG)
o Heavy traffic (5443 KG)

Figure 1 Load transfer mechanism on flexible pavement

Flexible Pavement Design Procedure:

Calculation of total thickness (T):
From the below chart for given CBR value of soil subgrade and Wheel load value select
appropriate thick curve value of combined thickness of surface, base and sub-base line which
will give the total thickness of pavement.

Graph 2 Graph between provenent thickness (mm) and CBR values ( %)

Calculation of sub base course thickness (tsb):

By using the above chart, for give CBR value of sub base course material and for wheel load
read the thickness of pavement which is above the soil sub base. It is denoted as (Tsb). Which is
highlighted by circle in the below fig. but here we have to find tsb.
Therefore, thickness of sub base course tsb =T Tsb

Figure 3 Thickness of pavement (Tsb)

Calculation of base course thickness (tb):

Similar to the above procedure, from the CBR value of base course and wheel load read the
value of thickness of pavement which is above the base course (ts). From this we can find out the
value of tb. tb = Tsb ts
Therefore all the values of pavement are known and cross section of pavement is as follows.

Figure 4 Base course thickness calculations

Test procedure
1. Take 18 kg soil sample, passing of 19 mm and retained on #4
1. Approximately 18 kg soil pass of 19mm sieve and retain of sieve no. 4 is taken.
2. Moisture and dry density curve is obtained using the standard AASHTO T 99 or T 180.
3. Optimum Moisture Content (OPC) is obtained from the graph between moisture content and
dry
density
4. Prepare the sample by adding optimum moisture content and then compact the soil in five
layers by
applying 10,30 and 65 blows respectively in three CBR molds using 10 lbs rammer having 18 in.
height of fall. The compacted densities of the three specimens range from 95 percent to 100 % of
the
maximum dry density already determined by the T 180 compaction test.
5. Soaking: Place the swell plate with adjustable stem on the soil sample in the mold and apply
sufficient annular weights to produce an intensity of loading equal to the mass of sub-base and
base
courses and surfacing above the tested material, but not less than 4.54 kg (10 lbs) . Place the
tripod
with dial indicator on top of the mold and make an initial dial reading.
6. Immerse the mold in water to allow free access of water. Place the sample in water for 96
hours (4
days)
7. Make a dial reading on soaked specimen and calculate swell as a percentage of initial sample
height.
8. Remove the sample from tank and allow draining for 15 minutes.
9. Penetration Test: Place the mold on the loading frame and adjust its potion until the piston is
centered on the specimen.
10. Seat the penetration piston with a 44 N (10 lbs) load, and set both the load dial and the strain
dial to
zero. This initial load is considered as the zero load when determining the stress penetration
relationship.
11. Place the surcharge weights on the specimens equal to that used during soaking. Apply load
at a rate
of 1.3 mm / min and record the load for penetration of 0.025 in, 0.05 in, 0.075 in, 0.10 in and so
on
up to 0.5 inches.
12. Stress strain curve: Plot curves between load and penetration for each specimen. Apply the
corrections to the curves if required. Take the readings of load for 0.1 in and 0.2 in. penetration
and
find CBR for both penetrations. The greater value is the required CBR for that specimen. Also
find
the dry density for each specimen.
13. CBR = Test load value, divided by, the standard load, multiplied by 100.
14. Design CBR: it is calculated by plotting a graph between CBR values and dry densities of all
the
three specimens and then calculating the design CBR against value of 85 % maximum dry
density.