Construction of low cost roads

Low Cost Roads are classified as below:

Earth road
Gravel road
Soil stabilized road
Water bound macadam(WBM) road

Construction of earth roads: Earth road is the cheapest

type of road prepared from natural soil.
•The construction depends upon the type of soil at site.
•The camber provided to the earth roads is very steep and
ranges between 1 in 20 to 1 in 33.
•The maximum cross slope of 1 in 20 is recommended to
avoid erosion due to rain waters and formation of cross
ruts.
Specification of materials (Earth road):

Base Course Wearing Course

Clay content < 5% 10 to 18%
Silt content 9 to 32% 5 to 15%
Sand content 60 to 80% 65 to 80%
Liquid limit < 35% < 35%
Plasticity index < 6% 4 to 10%

Construction procedure:
Material: The soil survey is carried out and suitable
borrow pits are located within economical haulage
distances.
Location: The centre line and road edges are marked on
the ground along the alignment by driving wooden pegs.
Preparation of sub-grade: Site clearance manually or
mechanically
• Cutting ,filling(to bring the road to a desired grade)
• Compaction (field density & m.c check)
• Shaping of sub-grade(such as: camber, grade etc.)
Pavement construction: The borrowed soil is dumped
on the prepared sub-grade and pulverized. The field
moisture content is checked and additional water is
added if necessary, to bring it up to OMC. The soil is
mixed, spread and rolled in layers such that the
compacted thickness of each layer doesn’t exceed
10cm. The type of roller for compaction is decided
based on soil type, desired amount of compaction and
availability of equipment.
Opening to traffic: The compacted earth road is
allowed to dry out for a few days before opening to
traffic.
Construction of gravel roads: Gravel roads are considered
superior to earth roads as they can carry heavier traffic.
• The camber may be between 1 in 25 and 1 in 30.
Material: Hard variety of crushed stone or gravel of specified
gradation is used. There are no specifications for the materials.
Rounded stones and river gravel are not preferable as there is poor
interlocking.
Construction procedure:
Material: Gravel to be used for the construction is stacked along the
side of the proposed road.
Location: The centre line and road edges are marked on the ground
along the alignment by driving wooden pegs.
Preparation of sub-grade: Site clearance manually or mechanically
• Cutting ,filling(to bring the road to a desired grade)
• Compaction (field density & m.c check)
• Shaping of sub-grade(such as: camber, grade etc.)
Pavement construction: Crushed gravel aggregates are placed
carefully in the trench so as to avoid segregation. Aggregates are
spread with greater thickness at centre and less towards the
edges so as to obtain the desired camber. The layer is rolled
using smooth wheeled rollers.
Opening to traffic: A few days after the final rolling and drying
out, the road is opened to traffic.

Construction of Water Bound Macadam (WBM) roads:

John Macadam (1756-1836) was the surveyor general of roads in
England and his new concept of road construction became
known by the year 1827.
WBM (water bound macadam): The broken stones of the
base course & surface course are bounded by the some dust in
presence of moisture.
The pavement base course made of crushed or broken agg.
mechanically interlocked by rolling & the voids filled with
screening & binding materials with the assistance of water.
•When WBM used as a surface course, it gets deteriorated rapidly
under adverse condition of traffic & weather. Therefore it is
desirable to provide a bituminous surfacing course over the WBM in
order to prolong its life.
•WBM Course agg.+ Screening + binding materials + water with
compaction
•Course aggregate: a) Crushed agg. B) Broken stone c) Over burnt
brick d) Crushed slag
•Screening Materials: same as course agg. but smaller sizes,
LL<20%, PL<6%
•Binding materials: a) Fine aggregate b) Lime dust c) Stone dust
Type of coarse aggregates:
Property Requirements for pavement
layer
Sub-base Base course Surfacing
course
Los Angeles abrasion value (max. %) 60 50 40
Aggregate impact value (max.%) 50 40 30
Flakiness index (max.%) - 15 15
Quality of materials: The grading requirements of screenings for WBM
Classification Size of screenings Sieve size Percent passing the
grading mm mm sieve, by weight
A 12.5 12.5 100
10 90-100
4.75 10-30
0.15 0-8
B 10 10 100
4.75 85-100
0.15 10-30
WBM Construction procedure:
1) Preparation of foundation for receiving WBM course: The
foundation may be either the sub-grade or sub-base or base course.
• Prepared to the required grade & camber
• Foreign material should be cleaned
• Depression & pot holes are filled
• Corrugations are removed by scarifying and reshaping the surface
to the required grade and camber.
2) Provision of lateral confinement: Lateral confinement is to be
provided before starting WBM constructions. This may be done by
constructing the shoulder in advance, to a thickness equal to the
compacted WBM.
3) Spreading of coarse aggregate: are spread uniformly to proper
profile to even thickness upon the prepared foundation and
checked by templates.
4) Rolling: Rolling is started from the edges, the roller being
run forward and backward until the edges are compacted.
But for the super elevated portion of the road, rolling is
started from the inner edge or lower edge towards outer or
upper edge of the pavement.
5) Application of screenings: After rolling, the dry screenings
are applied gradually over the surface to fill the interstices
in three or more applications.
6) Sprinkling & grouting: After the application of screenings,
the surface is sprinkled with water, swept and rolled.
Additional screening are applied & rolled till the coarse
aggregate are well bonded & firmly set.
7) Application of binding material: After the application of
screening and rolling, binding material is applied at a
uniform and slow rate at two or more successive thin layers.
When crushable screening is used like moorum or gravel,
there is no need to apply binding materials, except in the
surfacing course.
8) Setting & drying: After final compaction, the WBM
course is allowed to set over-night. Next day hungry spots
are located & are filled by screening or binding material,
lightly sprinkled with water. No traffic is allowed till
WBM layer set & dried out. Then bituminous surfacing is
laid.

Construction of soil-stabilized roads:

• Common methods used are: a) Mechanical soil
stabilization b) Soil-cement stabilization c) Soil-lime
stabilization d) Soil-bitumen stabilization
* Details will be discussed later on
Construction of bituminous pavement

Sub-grade preparation:
•Site clearance: manually or mechanically
•Cutting, filling(to bring the road to a desired grade)
•Compaction (field density & m.c check)
•Shaping of sub-grade (such as camber, grade etc.)
Sub-base preparation (Soil-aggregate, lime-soil, cement treated
soil, industrial waste) :
• Desired proportions of materials are mixed on the prepared sub-
grade.
• Field, m.c is checked, if less than OMC
• Requisite amount of water is to be added & mixed again.
• Then the mix is to be spread & rolled in layer by layer
Base course construction:
• WBM (is widely used as base course for road construction)
• bitumen treated aggregate
• soil-cement
• lean cement concrete (1:6:12)
• roller compacted concrete.
i) Surface treatment
a) Interface Treatments
• The surface of the existing pavement layer is to be cleaned to remove
dust & dirt & a thin layer of bituminous binder is to be sprayed before
the construction of any type of bituminous layer over this surface.
This treatment with bituminous material is called interface treatment.
Objectives: To provide the necessary bond between the old and the new
layers.
1. Prime coat: is the 1st application of a low viscosity liquid bituminous
material over an existing porous or absorbent pavement surface like
the WBM base course.
• Low viscosity liquid material- MC or SC cutback.
Objectives: i) to plug in the capillary voids of the porous surface.
ii) To bond the loose material particles on the existing surface.
• The primer is sprayed uniformly using a mechanical sprayer at a rate
of 7.3 to 14.6kg per 10m2 area.
• The primed surface is allowed to cure for 24hrs, no traffic is allowed.
2. Tack coat: is the application of bituminous material over an
existing pavement surface which is relatively impervious like an
existing bituminous surface as a cement concrete or a pervious like
the WBM which has already been treated by a prime coat.
• Higher viscosity like hot bitumen @ 4.9kg-9.8kg / 10m2
b) i. Surface dressing
• Bituminous surface dressing is provided over coat. The single coat
surface dressing consists of a single application of bituminous
binder material followed by spreading of aggregate cover and
rolling.
• When surface dressing is similarly done in two layers, it is called
two coat surface dressing.
• Where better adhesion are required, aggregate pre-coated with
bituminous binder are used in
• Of conventional surface dressing is known as bituminous surface
dressing with pre-coated aggregate.
Main Functions:
•To serve as a thin wearing course of pavement and to protect the
base course.
•To water proof the pavement surface and to prevent infiltration of
surface water.
•To provide dust-free pavement surface in dry weather and
mud-free pavement in wet weather.
ii) Seal coat:
• Top single coat surface dressing over certain bituminous
pavement which are not impervious. Such as, open graded
bituminous construction like - i) premixed carpet ii) grouted
macadam.
• Seal coat is also provided over an existing bituminous
pavement which is worn out.

Main functions:
• To seal the surface against the ingress of water.
• To develop skid resistance texture.
• To enliven an existing dry or weathered bituminous surface.
Grouted or penetration type construction
Penetration macadam: is used as a base or binder course.
• The course aggregates are first spread and compacted well in dry
state and after that hot bituminous binder of relatively high
viscosity is sprayed in fairly large quantity at the top.
• The bitumen penetrates into the voids from the surface of the
compacted aggregates, thus filling a part of the voids and binding
some stone aggregates together.
• It is called “Full Grout” when bitumen penetrated to the full depth
of compacted aggregates and “Semi Grout” when it penetrates up to
about half the depth.
Premix construction:
a) Road mix surface
• Premix carpet: Consists of coarse aggregates of 12.5 and 10 mm
sizes, premixed with bitumen or tar binder are compacted to a
thickness of 20mm to serve as a surface course of the pavement.
The PC consists of all aggregates passing 20mm and retained on
6.3mm sieve.
• Rolled asphalt: is a dense sand-bitumen premix of compacted
thickness 25mm, used as a wearing course. It is consists of well
graded coarse to fine sand and a suitable penetration grade
bitumen to form a dense and impervious layer.
• Mastic asphalt: is a mixture of bitumen, fine aggregate and filler
in suitable proportions which yields a void less and impermeable
mass.
b) High type bituminous pavement (Hot mix)
• Bituminous bound macadam: is a premixed construction method
consisting of one or more courses of compacted crushed aggregates
premixed with bituminous binder, laid immediately after mixing.
The BM is laid in compacted thickness of 75mm or 50mm and is
essentially a base course or binder course.

• Bituminous concrete or asphalt concrete: is a dense graded

premixed bituminous mix which is well compacted to form a high
quality pavement surface course. The thickness of bituminous
concrete surface course layer usually ranges from 40 to 75mm. The
IRC has provided specification for 40mm thick AC surface course
for highway pavements.