Abstract
The concept of ultra-thin seals for pavement was initially a preventive maintenance strategy for deteriorating pavement structure. However, it has currently been considered as an alternative for upgrading unsealed low-volume road to sealed road. Considering ultra-thin seal surfacing in low-volume roads will make these roads to be maintenance cost effective, improve ride quality, reduce noise generated, prevent water ingression to underlying layer, and reduce dust generation and loss of aggregate. Nevertheless, the question remains which pavement surfacing option will give a substantial improvement in terms of bearing capacity and economy. Therefore, this paper examines the performance of sealed low-volume roads using asphalt and concrete. Consequently, a finite element (FE) model was developed in general-purpose FE software Abaqus to simulate the pavement layers under a static loading condition and benchmarked with multi-layered elastic software WinJulea and mePADS. In this study two scenarios of low-volume roads were modelled by varying the thickness of the surfacing layer over the conventional granular base and stabilized base layer. Comparative results of the two surfacing options were measured through the horizontal strains underneath the surface layer, vertical strains on the subgrade layer and the increase in pavement bearing capacities. Thus, this study evaluates and suggests the most viable ultra-thin surfacing option between asphalt and concrete for low volume roads.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abed, A.H., Al-Azzawi, A.A.: Evaluation of rutting depth in flexible pavements by using finite element analysis and local empirical model. Am. J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 5(2), 163–169 (2012)
Adedeji, J.A.: Simulation of flexible pavement utilizing fly ash as alternative stabilizer. Master’s thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa (2015)
Adu-Osei, A.: Characterization of unbound granular layers in flexible pavements. Technical reported, Texas A&M University Texas Transportation Institute College Station, Texas (2001)
Ahmed, H.Y.: Effect of surface cracking on responses of flexible pavements structure. J. Eng. Sci. 34(3), 699–717 (2006)
Al-Azzawi, A.A.: Finite element analysis of flexible pavements strengthened with geogrid. ARPN J. Eng. Appl. Sci. 7(10), 1295–1299 (2012)
Al-Jhayyish, A.K.: Incorporating chemical stabilization of the subgrade in pavement design and construction practices. Ph.D. thesis, Ohio University (2014)
Al-Khateeb, L.A., Saoud, A., Al-Msouti, M.F.: Rutting prediction of flexible pavements using finite element modelling. Jordan J. Civ. Eng. 5(2), 173–189 (2011)
Ameri, M., Salehabadi, E.G., Nejad, F.M., Rostami, T.: Assessment of analytical techniques of flexible pavements by final element method and theory of multi-layer system. J. Basic Appl. Sci. Res. 2(11), 11743–11748 (2012)
Araya, A.A.: Characterization of unbound granular materials for pavement. Master’s thesis, Road and Railway Engineering Section, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology (2011)
Asphalt Institute: Research and Development of Asphalt Institute’s Thickness Design Manual. 9th edn., Research Report 82-2, the Asphalt Institute (1982)
Áurea, S.H., Evandro, P.J., Lucas, T.B.: Finite element modelling of flexible pavement (2006)
Brito, L.: Design methods for low volume roads. Ph.D. thesis, University of Nottingham (2011)
Cook, J.R., Petts, R.C., Rolt, J.: Low Volume Rural Road Surfacing and Pavements, A Guide to Good Practice. OTB Engineering UK LLP, London (2013)
Doré, G.: Pavement design for low volume roads CTEP – APWA Pavement Workshop 2014 – Presentations (2014). http://ctep.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Pavement-Design-for-Low-volume-Roads-Dore.pdf
Du Plessis, L., Kilian, A., Mngaza, K.: Ultra-thin reinforced concrete pavements (UTRCP): addressing the design issues. In: Proceedings of the 33rd Southern African Transport Conference (SATC 2014), Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 179–190 (2014)
Ekwulo, E.O., Eme, D.B.: Fatigue and rutting strain analysis of flexible pavements designed using CBR methods. Afr. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 3(12), 412–421 (2009)
Groenewald, M., Van Wijk, I.: Ultra-thin reinforced concrete pavements (UTRCP)-innovative technology which offers cost and socio-economic benefits for infrastructure provision. SATC 2010 (2010)
Gupta, A., Kumar, A.: Comparative structural analysis of flexible pavements using finite element method. Int. J. Pavement Eng. Asph. Technol. (PEAT) 15(1), 11–19 (2014)
Gupta, A.: Finite element analysis of granular pavements considering material nonlinearity. Asian Transp. Stud. 4(3), 550–564 (2017)
Hall, K.D., Bettis, J.B.: Development of comprehensive low-volume pavement design procedures. MBTC 1070, Final Report (2000)
Henning, T., Kadar, P., Bennett, C.R.: Surfacing alternatives for the unsealed rural road. The world bank, Washington, DC Transport note no. Trn-33 (2006)
Huang, Y.H.: Pavement Analysis and Design, 2nd edn. Pearson Education Inc., Hoboken (2004)
Jagtap, P.S., Nagrale, P.P.: Benefits of mechanistic approach for low volume rural roads. In: Proceedings of Indian Geotechnical Conference, Roorkee, pp. 1–8 (2013)
Jain, S., Joshi, Y.P., Golia, S.S.: Design of rigid and flexible pavements by various methods and their cost analysis of each method. Int. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 3(5), 119–123 (2013)
Kim, M.: Three-dimensional finite element analysis of flexible pavements considering nonlinear pavement foundation behaviour. Department of Civil Engineering, Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2007)
Mamlouk, M., Mobasher, B.: Cracking resistance of asphalt rubber mix versus hot-mix Asphalt. Int. J. Road Mater. Pavement Des. 5(4), 435–452 (2004)
Merritt, D.K., Lyon, C.A., Persaud, B.N.: Evaluation of Pavement Safety Performance (No. FHWA-HRT-14-065) (2015)
NCHRP: Guide for Mechanistic-Empirical Design of New and Rehabilitated Pavement Structures: Appendix RR-Finite Element Procedures for Flexible Pavement Analysis, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. (2004)
Paige-Green, P.: Practical aspects of low cost sealing of roads (2005). http://www.ssatp.org/sites/ssatp/files/publications/HTML/LVSR/English/Miscellaneous/02-Paige-Green-CSIR-LowCostSeals-2005.pdf. Accessed 5 Jan 2016
Paige-Green, P.: Local government note: new perspectives of unsealed roads in South Africa. In: Keynote Address Presented at the REAAA (NZ) Low Volume Roads Workshop held in Nelson, New Zealand, 18–20 July 2007 (2007)
Paige-Green, P., Pinard, M.I.: Optimum design of sustainable sealed low volume roads using the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP). In: 25th ARRB Conference—Shaping the Future: Linking Policy, Research and Outcomes, Perth, Australia (2012)
Pavement Interactive: Flexible pavement mechanistic models (2008). www.pavement-interactive.org/article/flexible-pavement-mechanistic-models/. Accessed 27 Mar 2014
Peng, Y., He, Y.: Structural characteristic of cement-stabilized soil bases with 3D finite element method. Front. Archit. Civ. Eng. China 3(4), 428–434 (2009)
Pinard, M.I., Paige-Green, P., Hongve, J.: Developments in low volume roads technology: challenging conventional paradigms. In: 11th Conference on Asphalt Pavements for Southern Africa (CAPSA15), Sun City, South Africa (2015)
Pretorius, F.J., Wise, J.C., Henderson, M.: Development of application differentiated ultra-thin asphalt friction courses for southern African application. In: Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Asphalt Pavements for Southern Africa (CAPSA 2004), vol. 12, p. 16 (2004)
Ramulu, G., Shankar, S., Chowdary, V., Prasad, C.S.R.K.: Influence of unbound material properties on rutting potential of low volume roads. Elixir Cem. Concr. Compos. 42, 6377–6382 (2012)
Salgado, R., Yoon, S.: Dynamic cone penetration test (DCPT) for subgrade assessment. Joint Transp. Res. Progr. 73 (2003)
Sandberg, U., Kragh, J., Goubert, L., Bendtsen, H., Bergiers, A., Biligiri, K.P., Karlsson, R., Nielsen, E., Olesen, E., Vansteenkiste, S.: Optimization of thin asphalt layers. In: ERA-NET ROAD Project, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), Danish Road Institute (DRI) and Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC), vol. 30 (2011)
Shafabakhsh, G.A., Motamedi, M., Family, A.: Influence of asphalt concrete thickness on settlement of flexible pavements. Electron. J. Geotech. Eng. 18, 473–483 (2013)
Sinha, A.K., Chandra, S., Kumar, P.: Finite element analysis of flexible pavement with different subbase materials. Technical paper. Indian Highw. 42(2), 53–63 (2014)
South African National Road Agency Ltd (SANRAL): Pavement Design: South African Pavement Engineering Manual. An initiative of the South African National Roads Agency Ltd., South Africa (2013)
Tiliouine, B., Sandjak, K.: Numerical simulation of granular materials behavior for unbound base layers used in Algerian pavement structures. Int. J. Civ. Struct. Eng. 4(3), 419–429 (2014)
TRH 4: Structural design of flexible pavements for interurban and rural roads. Pretoria: Committee of Land Transport Officials (COLTO), Department of Transport (DoT). DoT Technical Recommendations for Highways; Draft TRH 4 (1996)
Walubita, L.F., van de Ven, M.F.: Stresses and strains in asphalt-surfacing pavements. In: South African Transport Conference Organised by: Conference Planners, ‘Action in Transport for the New Millennium’ (2000)
Yetkin Yildirim, P.: Texas Considers Ultra-Thin HMA Alternatives to Seal Coats - TSP2 Pavement Preservation (2015). Tsp2pavement.pavementpreservation.org. https://tsp2pavement.pavementpreservation.org/2015/03/30/texas-considers-ultra-thin-hma-alternatives-to-seal-coats/. Accessed 30 July 2016
Yin, H.: The impact of strain gage instrumentation on localized strain responses in asphalt concrete pavements. Int. J. Pavement Res. Technol. 6(3), 225–234 (2013)
Zafar, R., Nassar, W., Elbella, A.: Interaction between pavement instrumentation and hot-mix-asphalt in flexible pavements. Emir. J. Eng. Res. 10(1), 49–55 (2005)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Adedeji, J.A., Mostafa Hassan, M. (2019). Performance Evaluation of Ultra-Thin Pavement Seals in Low-Volume Roads. In: El-Badawy, S., Abd El-Hakim, R. (eds) Recent Developments in Pavement Design, Modeling and Performance. GeoMEast 2018. Sustainable Civil Infrastructures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01908-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01908-2_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-01907-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-01908-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)