Indian Geotechnical Conference 2010, GEOtrendz December 1618, 2010 IGS Mumbai Chapter & IIT Bombay

California Bearing Ratio, Evaluation and Estimation: A Study on Comparisons

Roy, T.K.
Sr. Lecturer e-mail: tapash@civil.becs.ac.in, tapash2000@hotmail.com

Chattopadhyay, B.C.
Professor e-mail: ccbikash@ yahoo.co.in

Roy, S.K.
Professor e-mail: sudip@ civil.becs.ac.in

Department of Civil Engineering, Bengal Engineering & Science University, Shibpur, Howrah

ABSTRACT
In India, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of subgrade is used often for design of flexible pavements. In practice, only limited number of such tests could be performed because of high unit cost and time required for such testing. As a result, in many cases, it is difficult to reveal detailed variations in the CBR values, over the length of roads. In such cases if the estimation of the CBR could be done on the basis of some tests which are quick to perform, less time consuming and cheap, then it will be easy to get the information about the strength of subgrade over the length of roads and also will be helpful and important specially for low volume roads being constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) scheme over different states of India presently, to develop large scale connections of rural India within a short period of time. By considering this aspect, a number of investigators in the past made their investigations in this field and developed different methods for determining the CBR value on the basis of results of low cost, less time consuming and easy to perform tests. In this study, attempts have been made to seek the validation of the predicted values of CBR determined by different method as per guidelines of IRC:SP:72-2007. 1. INTRODUCTION California bearing ratio (CBR) is an empirical test and widely applied in design of flexible pavement over the world. This method was developed during 1928-29 by the California Highway Department. Use of CBR test results for design of roads, introduced in USA during 2nd World War and subsequently adopted as a standard method of design in other parts of the world, is recently being discouraged in some advanced countries because of the imperialness of the method (Brown, 1996). In addition, CBR test in laboratory requires a large soil sample and is laborious as well as time consuming. Furthermore, the results sometimes are not accurate due to poor quality of skill of the technicians testing the soil samples in the laboratory. All these problems may result in serious delay in the progress of the project and ultimately it may lead to escalation of the project cost. Government of India launched a prestigious project namely Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for providing the connectivity to the unconnected rural areas. In this project, the designers have to use the CBR value of soil for determining the thickness of the road where soaked/unsoaked CBR of soil samples to be used as subgrde to be determined in the laboratory. So evaluation of CBR of subgrade soils on the basis of simple and less time consuming tests may be necessary specially in such types of low volume roads. In the past, several attempts have been made to predict CBR by using different methods. Karunaprema and Edirisinghe (2002) and Nuwaiwu et al. (2006) performed the investigations for prediction of CBR from the Dynamic Cone Penetration (DCP) value and plasticity modulus. A study to check the validity of available correlations between CBR and other properties of soils has been made by Roy et al. (2006). Shukla and Kukalyekar (2004) have developed correlations of CBR with the compaction characteristics for the compacted fly ash. Recently Srinivasa Rao (2004) developed a correlation between CBR and Group index based on tests on about 150 soil samples covering a wide range of soil types. In this paper, an attempt has been made to make the comparison between the predicted and the experimental values of CBR as per the guidelines of IRC:SP:72-2007 for different projects of PMGSY. 2. AVAILABLE METHODS FOR PREDICTING CBR For the design of new roads, the CBR value may be

20 predicted as per IRC:SP:72-2007 by using the presumptive chart on the basis of soil classification tests which gives typical presumptive design CBR values for soil samples compacted to maximum dry density at optimum moisture content and soaked under water for 4 days as shown in the Table 1. Another method is by using Nomograph based on wet sieve analysis data, for estimating soaked CBR values on samples compacted to Proctor density as shown in the Figure 1.
Table 1: Typical Presumptive Design CBR Values

T.K. Roy, B.C. Chattopadhyay and S.K. Roy

Description of Subgrde Soil Highly Plastic Clays and Silts Silty Clays and Sandy Clays Clayey Sands and Silty Sands

IS Soil Classification CH, MH ML, MI CL, CI SC, SM

Typical Soaked CBR Values (%) * 2-3 4-5 6-10

* Expansive clays like BC Soil may have a soaked CBR of less than 2%

Fig. 1: Nomograph for Computing Soaked CBR Value From Sieve Analysis Data (CRRI, 1990)

3. METHODOLOGY AND DISCUSSION For checking the applicability of the above cited methods for predicting CBR, reported different properties like Liquid limit (LL), Plastic limit (PL), Plasticity index (PI), Grain size distribution etc. of soils along with the soaked CBR have been collected from the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of different roads project of different district of West Bengal under PMGSY and shown in the Table 2. List of the places of the collected soil samples are furnished below: Sl.No.1: Deul to Basanti, at CH. 0.4 km, Kumargang Block, Dist.-Dakshin Dinajpur, W.B. Sl.No.2: Deul to Basanti, at CH. 1.10 km, Kumargang Block, Dist.-Dakshin Dinajpur, W.B. Sl.No.3: Dakshin Jamalpur to Fatepur, at CH. 4.00 km, Tapan Block, Dist.- Dakshin Dinajpur, W.B. Sl.No.4: 18 No Road to Chowtara, at CH. 2.00 km, Dhaniakhali Block, Dist.-Hooghly, W.B. Sl.No.5: Birshimul more to Kantapukur, at CH. 1.00 km, Memari Block, Dist.- Bardhaman, W.B. Sl.No.6: T-02 to Buranagar, at CH. 0.60 km, BhangarI Block, Dist.-South 24 Parganas, W.B. Sl.No.7: T-02 to Buranagar, at CH. 3.80 km, BhangarI Block, Dist.-South 24 Parganas, W.B. Sl.No.8: T-02 to Buranagar, at CH. 6.90 km, BhangarI Block, Dist.-South 24 Parganas, W.B. Sl.No.9: T-06 to Sasari-169, at CH. 1.90 km, Baruipur Block, Dist.-South 24 Parganas, W.B. Sl.No.10: T-02 to Sasari-169, at CH. 3.80 km, Baruipur Block, Dist.-South 24 Parganas, W.B. To compare the experimental and presumptive design values of soaked CBR as per IRC:SP:72-2007, tested soils have been classified into different groups by using the reported values of LL and PI as per the plasticity chart and furnished in the Table 3. Further comparison has been made in between the experimental and predicted values of soaked CBR by following the guidelines of evaluating procedure of Nomograph from IRC:SP:72-2007, and the results are tabulated in the Table 4. From the Table 3, it is observed that experimental soaked CBR values determined at optimum moisture content of ML and CL group of soils have shown the lower amount compared to the typical presumptive design CBR values as specified in the IRC:SP:72-2007. But between two experimental values of soaked CBR of CL-ML group of soils, one value has satisfied the said design chart and other one remains below the lower limit. However the reported value of soaked CBR of CH group of soil exceeds the upper limit of the presumptive design CBR values as specified in the IRC:SP:72-2007.

California Bearing Ratio, Evaluation and Estimation: A Study on Comparisons Further for prediction of soaked CBR by using Nomograph as per IRC:SP:72-2007 as shown in the Table 4, it is observed that the variation between the experimental values and the predicted values remains within the range of 1% to 49%. Among 10 nos. of predicted values, 50% have remained within limit of 20% and balance exceeds the same.
Table 2: Physical Properties of Different Soils Reported in the DPR

21

Table 3: Comparison Between the Typical Presumptive Design CBR Values and the Tested Values Reported in DPR

Sl. No.

Reported Value IS Classification ML ML CL CL CL CL-ML CL-ML CL CH CL Reported Soaked CBR 3.11 3.39 3.24 3.55 3.62 4.0 3.51 3.37 3.22 3.52

Presumptive Design Values As Per IRC:SP:722007 IS Classification ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI ML,MI,CL,CI CH, MH ML,MI,CL,CI Typical Soaked CBR 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-5 2-3 4-5

1 2 3

Sl. No

Type of Soil Sand-23.2% Silt & Clay-76.8% Sand-26.7% Silt & Clay-73.3% Sand-2.0% Silt & Clay-98.0% Sand-11.56% Silt & Clay-88.44% Sand-10.21% Silt & Clay-89.79% Sand-4.0% Silt & Clay-96.0% Sand-2.0% Silt & Clay-98.0% Sand-1.0% Silt & Clay-99.0%

LL % Nonplastic

PL % Nonplastic

PI % Nonplastic

Soaked CBR (%) 3.11

4 5

Nonplastic

Nonplastic

Nonplastic

3.39

6 7

31.21

16.14

15.07

3.24

8 9

31.0

16.21

14.79

3.55

10

30.70

17.22

13.48

3.62

Table 4: Comparison of the Predicted CBR Values from the Nomograph with the Tested Values Reported in DPR

Sl. No.
29.23 22.83 6.40 4.0

Reported Soaked CBR (%) 3.11 3.49 3.24 3.55 3.62 4.0 3.51 3.37 3.22 3.52

Predicted Soaked CBR By Nomograph As Per IRC:SP:72-2007 4.50 4.40 3.00 3.50 3.40 3.10 2.35 2.30 3.25 3.10

% Diff. 31 21 8 1 6 29 49 47 1 14

1 2

27.58

21.25

6.33

3.51

3 4

29.27

20.11

9.16

3.37

5 6

Sand-8.0% Silt & Clay-92.0% Sand-4.0% Silt & Clay-96.0%

7
36.24 24.32 11.92 3.22

8 9
34.57 22.74 11.83 3.52

10

10

22 4. CONCLUSION From this experimental study, the following conclusions can be made: (i) Estimation of CBR on the basis of cheap and less time consuming method will help the designers and constructors enormously. (ii) However prediction of soaked CBR value by using the presumptive design chart as specified in the IRC:SP:72-2007 have shown significant difference with the experimental values of the same. (iii) By using Nomograph of IRC:SP:72-2007, the difference between the reported and predicted soaked CBR values exceeds 20%, when soil is nonplastic or having very small amount of sand content. REFERENCES Brown, S.F. (1996). Soil Mechanics in Pavement Engineering. Geotechnique, 46 (3), 383-426. IRC: SP 72 (2007). Guidelines for the Design of Flexible Pavements for Low Volume Rural Roads. IS 2720 (Part V) (1985). Determination of Liquid & Plastic Limits. IS 2720. Method of Test for Soil (Part VIII) (1980) Laboratory Determination of Moisture Content & Dry Density.

T.K. Roy, B.C. Chattopadhyay and S.K. Roy

IS 2720. Method of Test for Soil (Part CVI). Laboratory Determination of CBR. Karunaprema, K.A.K. and Edirisinghe, A.G.H.J. (2002). Some Useful Relationships for the use of Dynamic Cone Penetrometer for Road Subgrade Evaluation. Proceedings of the Civil Engineering Society Annual Seminar, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 85. Nuwaiwu, C.M.O., Alkali, I.B.K. and Ahmed, U.A., (2006). Properties of Ironstone Lateritic Gravels in Relation to Gravel Road Pavement Construction. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 24, 283-298. Roy T.K., Chattopadhyay B.C. and Roy S.K., (2006). Prediction of CBR for Subgrade of Different Materials from Simple Test., Proc. International Conference on Civil Engineering in the New Millennium Opportunities and Challenges, BESUS, West Bengal,Vol.-III :2091-2098. Shukla, S. K. and Kukalyekar, M. P., (2004). Development of CBR Correlations for the Compacted Fly Ash. Proceedings of the Indian Geotechnical Conference. Warangal, 53-56. Srinivasa Rao, K. (2004). Correlation between C.B.R. And Group Index. Proceedings of the Indian Geotechnical Conference. Warangal, 477-480.