Pavement Design Good Ref.

Document Number: AD-D-09
First Edition - May 2013

PAVEMENT DESIGN MANUAL
Commentary Report

COMMENTARY REPORT
BY PARSONS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

DOCUMENT NO: AD-D-09
FIRST EDITION
MAY 2013

Document No: AD-D-09
First Edition
May 2013
Department of Transport
PO Box 20
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Copyright 2013, by the Department of Transport. All Rights Reserved. This manual, or parts
thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

Page i

Contents Approval and Amendment Record
This report has been issued and amended as follows:

Issue

Revision

Description

Lead Author

Lead
Reviewer

Date

1.0

0

Report to accompany draft
final of Pavement Design
Manual submitted to Review
Committee

Mohamed
Elbasyouny
(PIL)

Mohamed
Elbasyouny
(PIL)

6/05/2013

Page ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. iii
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ iii
Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... 1
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 2
2 methodology .......................................................................................................................... 3
3 background and history ........................................................................................................ 4
4 base documents .................................................................................................................... 5
4.1 1993 AASHTO Empirical method ...................................................................................... 5
4.2 Austroads Mechanistic-empirical method .......................................................................... 5
4.3 Abu Dhabi Municipality Pavement Design Manual ............................................................ 7
5 scope of manual .................................................................................................................... 8
5.1 Application of this manual ................................................................................................. 8
5.2 Content and format ........................................................................................................... 8
6 Document development ...................................................................................................... 10
6.1 Progress meetings .......................................................................................................... 10
6.2 Consultation meetings .................................................................................................... 10
6.3 Formal submission .......................................................................................................... 10
6.4 Workshop ....................................................................................................................... 11
6.5 Comment Review ........................................................................................................... 11
6.6 Final submission ............................................................................................................. 11
7 Acknowlegment ................................................................................................................... 13
Appendix A: compiled comments from Dot/ stakeholders ...................................................... 15
Appendix B: workshop presentation ......................................................................................... 26

Page iii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Mechanistic-Empirical Design Method Flowchart .............................................................. 7

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Technical Meetings Information ........................................................................................ 12

Page 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In 2010, the Department of Transport commenced with the Unifying and Standardizing of Road
Engineering Practices Project. The objective of the project was to enhance the management,
planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of all roads and related infrastructures
in the Abu Dhabi Emirate and ensure a safe and uniform operational and structural capacity
throughout the road network.
To achieve this objective a set of 36 standards, specifications, guidelines and manuals were
developed in consultation with all relevant authorities in the Abu Dhabi Emirate. In future, all
authorities or clients involved in roads and road infrastructures in the Emirate shall exercise their
functions and responsibilities in accordance with these documents.
One of these 36 manuals is the Pavement Design Manual (PDM). The PDM focuses on the
material characterization, traffic estimation and climatic influence for the structural design of the
pavements structural layers. Combining conditions and resources from different international
manuals, while including ways to use sustainable and economical materials, this manual is highly
applicable to Abu Dhabi.
This manual provides comprehensive information needed to develop complete structural pavement
designs for both flexible (asphalt) and rigid (concrete) pavements. Topics covered in PDM include
required traffic and climatic data for pavement design, material characterization, new pavement
design, rehabilitation techniques, pavement maintenance, pavement management, low volume
roads, evaluation of existing pavements condition and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis. This manual
also covers the empirical and the mechanistic-empirical (M-E) design methods. Using the
information in this manual, a designer can apply several design methods and select a final design
based on a life cycle cost analysis.
In coordination with DoT and Aurecon (Project Manager), following process was identified and
followed:
Get comprehensive brief from DoT Staff to understand their requirements.
Submit Preliminary report to confirm DoTs requirements.
Review the existing International pavement design manuals.
Conduct an initial workshop to discuss the draft contents and methodology to be adopted.
Prepare and submit a first draft Manual for comments and review by DoT.
Receive comments from DoT and improve the draft.
Submit a second draft for DoT / Stakeholders review.
All agencies to attend a workshop to receive comment and thereby improve the draft.
Collect comments from the workshop outcome and prepare a final manual.
All the Chapters and Appendices of the PDM were developed in complete co-ordination with DoT.
Several chapters were submitted individually for DoT review during the development process.
However, the first complete draft of the PDM was delivered for review in April 2012. The document
has been subject to further rigorous review during several meetings with DoT lead reviewer. The
second full draft of the document was delivered for review in September 2012. In November 2012
a workshop was held for all agencies to present the draft final and collect their comments. In mid
December 2012 after meeting with DoT and other manuals developer a new chapter was
requested to be added. Finally, in February 2013 the final draft manual was submitted.

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1 INTRODUCTION
Pavement design, an integral and critical part of the transportation system, focuses on thickness
design of pavement layers. In general, pavement design requires knowledge about the materials in
any existing pavement layers, the foundation upon which the pavement will reside, traffic levels,
and climatic conditions. Selecting a final design, however, depends on the availability of materials,
funding, and local experience.
The manuals approach is consistent with DoTs objective to upgrade the existing pavement design
methodology by incorporating advanced technology and pavement design procedures. This
manual provides comprehensive information needed to develop complete structural pavement
designs for asphalt and concrete pavements. Topics include required data, material
characterization, new pavement design, rehabilitation techniques, pavement maintenance,
pavement management, low volume roads, and life cycle cost (LCC) analysis. This manual also
covers the empirical and the mechanistic-empirical (M-E) design methods.
Several pavement design methods are currently used by different agencies and countries. These
methods vary somewhat for differing local conditions and resources. The procedures range from
empirical to M-E approaches. New M-E pavement design analysis procedures developed over the
last 20 years focus on the design and construction of high quality, long-lasting and well-performing
highways that accommodate the increase in traffic volumes and loads in ways that exceed the
empirical methods. These new approaches are challenging in that they require advanced analysis
methods and material characterization. In response to these technical advances and increasingly
easy computation, DoT has incorporated the newer and more fundamental mechanistic-empirical
design approaches in this new manual.
Combining conditions and resources from different international manuals, while including ways to
use sustainable and economical materials, this manual is highly applicable to Abu Dhabi. It covers
different options for obtaining traffic count and loads, environmental factors, and advanced material
characterizations that apply to Abu Dhabi. Brief descriptions for some pavement design topics are
given since other DoT manuals cover such topics in more details.
This report supports the PDM manual, as it summarizes the approach followed in developing the
PDM. The report also, provides the activities undertaken and communications with DoT to develop
the PDM in its final version.

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2 METHODOLOGY
The method followed to develop the pavement design manual was set from the start of the project
with the DoT and Aurecon (Project Manager). The following process was identified and followed:
1. Get comprehensive brief from DoT Staff to understand their requirements.
2. Submit Preliminary report to confirm DoTs requirements.
3. Review the existing International pavement design manuals.
4. Conduct an initial workshop to discuss the draft contents and methodology to be adopted.
5. Prepare and submit a first draft Manual for comments and review by DoT.
6. Receive comments from DoT and improve the draft.
7. Submit a second draft for DoT / Stakeholders review.
8. All agencies to attend a workshop to receive comment and thereby improve the draft.
9. Collect comments from the outcome of the workshop and prepare a final manual.
These steps were followed as practical as possible to develop the manual. Since the pavement
design manual is special design manual consultation with stakeholders were conducted mainly
during the workshops that was held during the project. Also, meetings with consultants developing
other manual were held to coordinate the interaction between the pavement design manual and
the other manuals.
The DoT instructions from the beginning were to incorporate a mechanistic-empirical method in the
new design manual, include new material characterization and add sections for pavement
maintenance and life cycle cost analysis. All the Chapters and Appendices of the PDM were
developed in complete co-ordination with DoT. An initial table of contents of the topics that
expected to be covered in the manual was given by the DoT. Some changes were introduced on
the table of content. However, all topics were covered in the developed manual.
The DoT requirements were included in a preliminary report that was submitted to DoT in March
2011. Following this submission a workshop was held in March 2011 to the DoT /Stakeholders.
The purpose of this workshop was to present the updated topics and table of contents that will be
incorporated in the manual as well as address comments received on the preliminary report.
Once the general outline was set from the workshop the manual development started. All the
Chapters and Appendices of the PDM were developed in complete co-ordination with DoT. Several
chapters were submitted individually for DoT review during the development process. The
following sections will cover the document development and the consultation with the DoT.

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3 BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
Historically, pavement design had been based on empirical models formulated from pavement test
tracks or lab testing. These empirical methods use nomographs and simple equations to obtain
the layers thickness. While these nomographs were developed using limited data, the issue that
had faced many agencies is when the conditions extend beyond the nomograph limits, is the
resulting thickness acceptable from an economical and safety viewpoints or not.
There had been a huge advance in the technology which led to the easiness to perform
complicated computations using computer. At the same time, there had been a significant
increase in the traffic loads, traffic counts, advance in material characterization and better
modelling of the environmental factors. Accordingly, agencies started looking into using
mechanistic empirical (M-E) methods that is based on fundamental properties and advanced
material characterization to better design economical pavement structure.
Countries around the World either use a method that was developed locally or adopt an
international method but modify it to the country local condition. The manuals that were
considered for the pavement design manual were the following:
1. A Guide to Structural Design of Road Pavements Austroads Australia and New
Zealand.
2. South African Mechanistic Pavement Design Method South Africa
3. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Mechanistic-Empirical
Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) USA.
4. Asphalt Institute Thickness Design Guide MS-1
5. Shell Oil Methodology UK.
6. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Guide for Design of
Pavement Structures (1993) USA.
7. Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) pavement design manual
8. Dubai Pavement Design Manual
9. Saudi Arabia Pavement Design Manual
10. Qatar Pavement Design Manual
The first 4 methods are mechanistic-empirical methods that are based on fundamental material
characterization and mechanistic analysis of pavement structure. While the remaining methods
are empirical methods developed from test tracks and lab testing analysis. Qatar PDM provides a
catalog type of pavements design manual in which a pavement section can be selected based
upon allowable traffic and foundation conditions.
These listed manuals were studied and evaluated for the Abu Dhabi. ME methods are based on
similar concepts with different models development. Accordingly, it was decided to rely on only
one empirical method and one ME method. The 1993 AASHTO was selected for the empirical
method because all agencies and clients are familiar with this method. 1993 ASSHTO guide has
been used for long time in Abu Dhabi as the base for Abu Dhabi Municipality Roadway Design
Manual. While, Austroads was selected for the M-E method because the models used in
Austroads were developed for similar climatic conditions to Abu Dhabi. In addition to these two
main manuals Abu Dhabi Municipality Roadway Design Manual referenced to obtain inputs that
was set for Abu Dhabi and is common to all pavement designers.

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4 BASE DOCUMENTS
The three manuals selected for the new Abu Dhabi pavement design manual were:
1. A Guide to Structural Design of Road Pavements Austroads Australia and New
Zealand.
2. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Guide for Design of
Pavement Structures (1993) USA.
3. Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) pavement design manual
This section gives a general overview and summary to these manual.
4.1 1993 AASHTO Empirical method
The 1993 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide
for Design of Pavement Structures is based on empirical method. Most countries around the world
use the 1993 AASHTO guide with some modification to reflect local experience and conditions.
Abu Dhabi Municipality Roadway Design Manual, which is based on the 1993 AASHTO guide, is
an example.
To develop the Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, AASHTO compiled results from road
tests conducted from 1958 to 1960 in Ottawa, Illinois, U.S.A. Data from these tests reflect one
climatic condition, one foundation type, and one million equivalent single axle loads (ESALs). From
1960 to 1993, AASHTO added several enhancements, such increased reliance on traffic data and
a limiting layer approach.
Covering both flexible and rigid pavement design, The 1993 AASHTO Guide describes material
characterization, equivalent traffic estimation, life cycle costs, and existing pavement evaluation. It
applies an ESAL as the basic unit for traffic estimation. Its material characterizations use an
empirical factor to reflect layer stiffness.
Pavement designers around the world have used this guide successfully for many years. Reasons
for designers success with this guide include the following:
1. Pavement designers can easily use the Nomograph or software.
2. Inputs defined by the guide are simple, many of which can be assumed easily.
3. Designers are very familiar with the methodology.

4.2 Austroads Mechanistic-empirical method
Advances in technology have encouraged the pavement community to start shifting from the
empirical method to the M-E method, which is based on fundamental material properties and
actual traffic loads.
Applying the fundamental stresses and strains of the materials in different layers at different depths
of the pavement structure, the mechanistic method enables designers to evaluate the validity of
proposed layer thicknesses. Designers calculate stresses and strains using either linear elastic
analysis or a more complicated model that focuses on finite elements under actual traffic loads.
Analysis using the mechanistic method also depends on detailed material characterizations, which
vary based on temperature (for hot mix asphalt layers), ground water table depth, and moisture

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content (for granular layers). All M-E methods involve using a software package to analyse and
design the pavement structure.
Austroads, the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities,
has developed an M-E pavement design guide, Guide to Pavement Technology, Part 2: Pavement
Structural Design. This manual contains ten different sections that cover all aspects of pavement
design, including structural design, surfacing, materials, pavement evaluation and treatment,
maintenance, construction work practices, and drainage. Austroads also has a software package
for pavement analysis.
According to the Austroads guide, engineers apply structural analysis of the trial pavement
configuration to quantify critical strains and stresses that are caused by traffic loads. They can vary
the method to consider pavement layers as either fully elastic (viscoelastic), uniform in lateral
extent, or variable, with either full friction or no friction between the layers. By using these
variations, engineers attempt to establish theoretical estimates that agree with observed reactions
to traffic loading.
In addition, engineers can analyse pavement designs based on varying traffic loads, from a single
vertical load with uniform tire contact stress to multiple loads with multi-directional components and
non-uniform stress distribution. They can also vary traffic speeds to further assess potential traffic
loads. Engineers must be careful, however, to ensure that the sophistication of the analysis
method is compatible with the quality of the input data. Otherwise, they need to make too many
assumptions to fill the gaps, resulting in misleading, if not worthless, analysis.
Austroads states that engineers can reliably obtain required input for analysis based on the M-E
method. Results from such analysis provide predictions of pavement performance that reasonably
match pavement performance in Australasian.
Upon completing the structural analysis, engineers can use the results to estimate the allowable
loading of the pavement configuration. Austroads states that, in the M-E method, most
performance criteria assigned to pavement materials and to the subgrade relate the level of strain
induced by a standard single axle load and the number of such loads that exceed the pavements
tolerance level, based on material characteristics.

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Figure 1 Mechanistic-Empirical Design Method Flowchart

4.3 Abu Dhabi Municipality Pavement Design Manual
Abu Dhabi Municipality (ADM) pavement Design Manual was developed based on the 1993
AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures. The inputs required for the pavement design
had been tailored for local conditions. ADM follows deep strength concept in pavement design.
Using inputs from ADM manual in the 1993 AASHTO guide will provide pavement structure with
thicker asphalt concrete layers. ADM also imposed minimum layer thickness for each road
category to meet the standard specifications and mixture requirements available locally.

Traffic Foundation Climate Material Properties
Trial Section
Pavement Analysis Performance Criteria
Project Reliability
Comparison of Designs
Viable Design
Select Design
Inputs
Analysis
Selection
Accept
No
Yes

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5 SCOPE OF MANUAL
5.1 Application of this manual
Information in this manual focuses on structural pavement design, with methods for determining
layer thickness and pavement structural capacity. This manual is intended for use by pavement
engineers conducting structural design for either existing or new pavement structures.
Structural calculations for pavement design require knowledge of existing traffic flow, predictions of
anticipated future traffic, and environmental factors at the roads location. Pavement designers
must also obtain information about the properties of the materials (such as asphalt, Portland
cement, or granular road base) that will be used in each pavement layer. Designs must account for
these material properties in conjunction with the material specifications and asphalt mixture
designs, as detailed in the Abu Dhabi DoT Standard Specifications for Road Works manual.
Completing the pavement design process involves using either the 1993 AASHTO nomograph or
Austroads software to determine the required layer thickness. After generating several design
options using different methods, a pavement engineer shall conduct an LCC analysis to compare
the designs for cost effectiveness. For details about LCC analysis, refer to Chapter 9, Life-cycle
Cost Analysis, in this manual, as well as the Abu Dhabi DoTs Project Cost Estimating and
Standard Bill of Quantities manuals.
Pavement design requires not only designing new pavements, but also evaluating existing
pavement. Ensuring that existing pavement facilities have sufficient functional capacity and ride
quality involves maintenance, possibly including the construction of additional layers. Optional
methods for maintaining existing pavements include chip sealing, fog sealing, slurry sealing, and
crack sealing. Such maintenance or rehabilitation requires accessing the pavement condition
surveys database, which is part of the Abu Dhabi DoTs pavement management system, to get
information about the condition of the existing pavement. Refer to Chapter 10, Pavement
Management Systems, in this manual for information about the pavement management system
and Chapter 11 for the existing pavement evaluation and pavement condition surveys.
Evaluating existing pavements requires significant engineering judgement and effective application
of the backcalculation procedure. Based on the pavement design guidelines in this manual, design
engineers apply their own methodologies and experienced judgment to arrive at final rehabilitation
methods.
This manual provides guidelines for the design of new and rehabilitation of asphalt and concrete
pavements. The concrete pavement design guidelines are given in less detail. Applicable
international standards for concrete pavement design are followed in the manual.
5.2 Content and format
This manual includes sections detailing inputs such as traffic, climate, and material properties, as
well as sections on maintenance, rehabilitation, and LCC analysis. It also provides appropriate
charts and nomographs. The section on low-volume roads is particularly relevant for rural areas.
Because different design methodologies deal with inputs in different ways, this manual advises
designers on how to estimate these inputs and how to obtain valid condition inputs for Abu Dhabi.
It also includes ways to ensure that pavement designs support sustainability.

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This manual includes the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Introduction: Outlines the purpose, scope, intended users, and application of
this manual.
Chapter 2 Pavement design components: Describes elements, such as environmental
and traffic factors, that must be considered in pavement design, and provides instructions
on how to determine such factors.
Chapter 3 Pavement material characterization: Identifies properties of pavement
materials and provides instructions on how to determine such properties through tests of
the use of models.
Chapter 4 Pavement rehabilitation: Details the rehabilitation of flexible and rigid
pavement structures.
Chapter 5 Rigid pavement design: Details the design of new flexible and rigid
pavement structures.
Chapter 6 Low-volume roads: Covers the design of low-volume roads.
Chapter 7 Drainage design: Focuses on the design of granular drainage layer in a
pavement structure.
Chapter 8 Flexible pavement maintenance: Offers different maintenance options.
Chapter 9 Life-cycle cost analysis: Details LCC analysis for pavement structures.
Chapter 10 Pavement management systems: Provides an overview of the Abu Dhabi
PMS and summarises related concepts.
Chapter 11 - Existing Pavement Evaluation: Provides overview of different methods to
conduct pavement condition surveys and how to analysis the collected distress data.
The appendices of this manual provide supplementary charts and tables for the design on the rigid
pavements.

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6 DOCUMENT DEVELOPMENT
The development of the manual document required progress meeting with DoT and Aurecon,
submission of separate chapters for early review, and meetings with DoT and other consultants.
The Table below includes the dates of meetings and presentations held during the progress of the
manual development.
The overall Schedule for Parsons International Limiteds completion of the Pavement design
manual is shown on the schedule included in PILs Project Management Plan (PMP). The key
milestone dates for the delivery of the Pavement Design manual are as follows.
Preliminary Study and List of Contents: 10 March 2011
First workshop 14 March 2011
Completion of Stakeholder Review: 31 March 2011
Delivery of First Draft Document: April 2012
Completion of DOT Reviews July 2012
Submission of Draft Document: September 2012
Second Workshop: 12 November 2012
Final Comments: 01 December 2012
Final Draft Document: February 2013
Final Document: 01 May 2013

6.1 Progress meetings
Monthly progress meetings were being held with DoT and Aurecon to update on the progress of
the manual development. The progress meeting were attended by the Parsons Project Director.
Progress and information presented in these meeting were collected from each manual lead
developer.
6.2 Consultation meetings
The progress meeting were mainly on the project management level not on the technical level.
Several technical meetings were held with the DoT pavement design manual lead reviewer (Dr.
Salim Sulaiman). Also, meetings were held with other consultants (TrafQuest and Halcrow)
developing other manual to discuss interaction between the pavement design manual and these
manual. The manuals that had interaction with pavement design manual were the Geotechnical
Investigation and Design Guidelines developed by Halcrow and the Road Performance Manual by
TrafQuest.
In mid December 2012, a meeting was held at the DoT with DoT, Aurecon and the Getechnical
investigation manual developer (Halcrow). The outcome of this meeting was to add a new section
in the pavement design manual to cover the evaluation of the existing pavement structures.
6.3 Formal submission
All the Chapters and Appendices of the PDM were developed in complete co-ordination with DoT.
The initial plan was to submit chapter by chapter to the DoT lead reviewer. This plan was followed
for the first few chapters that were submitted individually for DoT review. However, due to the
interaction between different chapters and complication of the manual, all chapters were submitted
together as a first complete draft.

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The first complete draft of the PDM was delivered for review in April 2012. The document has
been subject to rigorous review during several meetings with DoT lead reviewer and DoT reviewer
panel. The comments obtained from this first review were addressed in a second draft.
The second full draft of the document was delivered for review in September 2012. The second
draft was distributed to the Stakeholders for their review. Initial comments from Aurecon reviewers
were send on the second draft. Comments that were received for the Pavement Design Manual
are listed in Appendix A.
In November 2012 a workshop was held for all agencies to present the draft final and collect their
comments. After the presentation additional comments were received from the Stakeholders
mainly Al-Ain Municipality. All comments were addressed and included in the final document.
In mid December 2012 after meeting with DoT and other manuals developer a new chapter on the
evaluation of the existing pavement structures was requested to be added. Initially, this new
section was added as an appendix and in February 2013 the final draft manual was submitted.
Then the DoT requested that it should be added as a new chapter to the main text which was done
in the final version that was submitted in beginning of May 2013.
6.4 Workshop
Two workshops were given during the project; the first was given in March 2011 to discuss the
initial outline of the manual. The second workshop was given on November 12
th
2012. The
second workshop presented the final developed manual. The workshop discussed the new
features and methods described in the pavement design. A design example using the empirical
and the M-E method was presented to compare the two methods. The presentation given during
the second workshop is included in Appendix B.
6.5 Comment Review
The comments received from the DoT / Stakeholders were reviewed carefully. Most of the
comments incorporated in the pavement design manual. None of the comments was major due to
the coordination with the DoT lead reviewer throughout the manual development.
The few comments that were not included require the standardization of certain inputs to the
design process. The standardization of certain inputs would disagree with one of the main
requirement of the manual that it should be applicable to all clients and projects. The
standardization can be done individually by local agencies to accommodate their local
requirements.
6.6 Final submission
The final document was updated with the final format that was request by the project manager
(Aurecon). The cover and back pages were added to the PDF file. A final version was submitted
in May 2013.

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The following table list the technical meeting held during the development of the PDM.
Table 1 Technical Meetings Information
Date Title Agenda Attendees
20-Feb-11
PDM Preliminary
report
Discussion of the Preliminary
report and manual outline
Dr. Salim Suliman (DOT), Dr.
Rasin Mufti (PIL), Dr. Walid
Nassar (PIL)
10-March-11
PDM Preliminary
report
Discussion of the Preliminary
report and preparation for the
first workshop
Parviz Djahani (DoT), Dr. Salim
Suliman (DOT), Willie Victor
(Aurecon), Dr. Rasin Mufti (PIL),
Mohamed Elbasyouny (PIL)
05-April-11
PDM Workshop
comments
Updated outline, schedule
and the comments received
on the PDM during the
workshop
Rasin Mufti (PIL), Mohamed
Elbasyouny (PIL)
08-June-11
PDM progress
meeting
Discuss comments on
Chapters 1,2,and 3
Elbasyouny (PIL)
14-June-11
PDM and RPMS
Manual
Discuss interaction between
PDM and RPMS Manual
Rob Hranac (TrafQuest),
Mohamed El-Basyouny (PIL),
Ahmed Abdel Dayem,
(Trafquest)
15-
September-
11
PDM progress
meeting
Progress in PDM
Elbasyouny (PIL)
06-June-12 PDM Review Comments of PDM First Draft
Nabil Salman (DoT), Dr. Rasin
Mufti (PIL), Mohamed
Elbasyouny (PIL)
12-June-12 PDM Review Comments of PDM First Draft
Dr. Salim Suliman (DOT),
19-
December-
12
Meeting on
Pavement
Condition Survey
Discuss location and content
of Pavement Condition
Survey
Parviz Djahani (DoT), Dr. Salim
Suliman (DOT), Jihad Sawan
(DoT), Abdulla Al Shaibani
(DoT), Willie Victor (Aurecon),
Andrew Harley (Halcrow),

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7 ACKNOWLEGMENT
This document was developed by Parsons International Limited. The document consultants would
like to express their personal thanks and gratitude to:
Dr Parviz Djahani: For overall leading and steering of the project.
Dr. Salim Sulaiman (DoT Review Committee Lead): For his clear and thoughtful guidance
throughout the development of PDM.
Willie Victor, For his time and support during the project progress.
Members of the DoT review Committee For their time and input to aid the development of the
PDM.
All remaining stakeholders :For having shared their thoughts, comments and ideas to develop
the PDM.
Parsons Staff:
Dr. Rasin Mufti, Project Director
Dr. Mohamed Elbasyouny, manual lead author
Eng. Sohila Bemanian, maintenance author
Eng. Keith Hixson, drainage author
Dr. Walid Nassar, peer reviewer
Eng. Ramesh Vishwakarma, rigid pavement author
Gaylin Gardette, editor
Ron Manns, editor
Abdul Vasid, Cad designer

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Page 15

APPENDIX A: COMPILED COMMENTS FROM DOT/ STAKEHOLDERS
This appendix provides the comments received for the Pavement Design Manual draft final version
by December 2012.

A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Second Draft Document
MAN-000540 Revision No: 3 Dated: #################### ACONEX Document No. of Approved Content Outline:
Geometry #################### Due Date for Initial Responses:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Medium Priority (M):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
1 Bus stops Bus stop pavement area should be laid with bitumen modified red
colored asphalt wearing course.
M DOT-Public Transport
Division
Added to Roads Specification manual
2 Par 1.4 Content and Format Page 3 Chapter 8 - Flexible pavement maintenance: Change "offers" to
"Offers"
L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
3 Par 1.5.1Flexible pavements Page 4 In second paragraph change "contactors" to "contractors" L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
4 Par 2.1 Overview Page 9 First paragraph. Careful study and characterization of these factors
is Change "is" to "are"
Reviewer
Corrected
5 Par 2.2 Environment Page 9 Environment includes a many variables. Omit "a". L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
6 Figure 2-2 Page 12 Cannot read some rainfall figures H Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
7 Table 2-1 Page 12 Start table on next page to fit the whole table on 1 page M Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
8 Paragraph 2.3.2 Vehicle
classification
Page 16 Vehicle classifications on paragraph 3 should start with numbering 1
and not 7 to be similar to numbering in Figure 2-4 on page 17
M Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
9 Paragraph 2.3.10 Truck factor and
Paragraph 2.3.11 Equivalent axle
load factor
Page 21 and Page 22 These paragraps should be changed around because the method to
calculate EALF used in equation 2-9 in paragraph 2.3.10 is only
provided in paragraph 2.3.11
Reviewer
Corrected
10 Paragraph 2.3.11 Page 22 Last sentence of first paragraph: "As an alternative method, can apply
.." Add "designers" before "can apply"
Reviewer
Corrected
11 Chapter 3 Pavement Materials Page 25 Second paragraph. Add "a" to "Pavement is composed of .." L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
DDC Response
Observations such as typographical errors which
may be corrected during next revision.
No Subject Page / Section No Reviewers Comment Reviewer
Reviewer's
Organization
Sub-Package Name: Geometry 2
Comments that will cause the document to be
unacceptable.
Comments which require the document to be revised
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
Consolidated Comments Submitted to
DDC:
UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZING OF ROAD ENGINEERING PRACTICES
CONSOLIDATED REVIEWERS COMMENT SHEET
Pavement Design Manual
ACONEX Document No. of Interim
Deliverable Reviewed:
Page 1 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
12 Par 3.2.1 Empirical design for
granular base and subbase
materials
Page 28 Add "The AASHTO Road Test basis of these correlations is" to the
second sentence of the second paragraph reading "A granular base
of has a layer " Refer to page II-17 and II-20 of 1993 AASHTO
Guide for Design of Pavement Structures
Reviewer
Corrected
13 Figure 3-1 Page 29 This figure copied from the AASHTO manual page II-19 should be
revised so that the footers which include AASHTO manual references
are not shown.
Reviewer
Corrected
14 Figure 3-1 page 29 The title of this figure is on the page following the figure and should be
moved to the bottom of the figure on page 29
Reviewer
Corrected
materials
page 30 Add "In the AASHTO Road Test the basis of these correlations is" to
the second sentence of the paragraph reading " Granular subbase
has a base layer " Refer to page II-20 of 1993 AASHTO Guide for
Design of Pavement Structures
Reviewer
Corrected
are not shown.
Reviewer
Corrected
17 Par 3.2.2 Mechanistic design for
materials
Page 32 Change the last sentence of the third paragraph to: "The top half of
Table 3-2 is applicable for granular material that has a CBR greater
than 30%." Refer Table 6.4 on page 52 of Austroads manual.
Reviewer
Corrected
18 Par 3.3 modified granular materials Page 33 Last sentence of first paragraph : Change "stabilised" to "modified" in
the sentence "Austroads specifies that stabilised granular materials
". Refer page 53 Autroads Manual
Reviewer
Corrected
are not shown.
Reviewer
Corrected
Page 2 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
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A14.12
Title of Interim
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Priorities:
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Low Priority (L):
Priority
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DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
are not shown.
Reviewer
Corrected
asphalt concrete materials
Page 38 Change the second paragraph to the following: "The structural
coefficient of AC varies between 0.2 and 0.44 and AC with a layer
coefficient of 0.44 (per inch), corresponds to an AC resiient modulus
of 3.1 Gpa (450,000 psi)" Reference AASHTO manual page II-17
Reviewer
Corrected
22 Par 3.5.2 Mechanistic design for
asphalt concrete materials
Page 41 First bullet " modulus of the bitumen" Second bullet.
"percentage bitumen in the asphalt.." Directly from Austroads
manual page 71. This is the convention used in AAHTO and
Austroads design manuals. In this design manual the authors used
aphalt binder and asphalt concrete.
Reviewer
Corrected
23 Figure 3-7 Page 42 Change "asphalt" in title to "asphalt concrete". Refer Austroads figure
6.10 page 71
Reviewer
Corrected
24 Figure 4-3 Page 55 Change "Foundatio" to "Foundation" and "Climat" to "Climate". Refer
Austroads page 97.
Reviewer
Corrected
25 Par 4.2.2.3Determination of a
granular base layer's elastic
parameters
Page 58 First paragraph. Change "because" to "Because" L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
26 Par 4.3.2 Empirical pavement design Page 61 Second parapraph. Reference is made to Appendix C for design
traffic calculation procedure. Appendix C on page 202 contains
AASHTO slab thickness design tables. Correct reference.
H Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
27 Par 4.3.3.2Determine required
structural design
Page 67 First paragraph. "Refer to section X.". Provide correct reference H Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
28 Par 4.3.3.2Determine required
structural design
Page 67 - 69 Please provide reference to the design figures: Figure 4-6, Figure 4-
7, Figure 4-8 and Figure 4-9. Could not be found in AASHTO or
Austroads Design manuals
Reviewer
Corrected
Page 3 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
29 Par 4.3.4 Joint details Page 70 Change "joint" to "joints" in first paragraph L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
30 Par4.3.5.1Rigid pavement types Page 72 Third sentence of first paragraph. Change "LPCP" to "JPCP" L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
31 Equation 4-10 Page 73 Provide details for the symbols used in equation as in Austroads
manual page 127. Note that according to Austroads manual the
maximum value for subgrade CBR determined according to this
method is 15%.
Reviewer
Corrected
32 Equation 4-11 Page 74 Change "Designers shall use Equation 4-12.." to "Designers shall use
equation 4-11.." in the line below the equation. Refer Austroads
Manual page 130, equation 9.2
Reviewer
Corrected
33 Equation 4-12 Page 74 Change title of Equation 4.12 to "Allowable axle load repitions when
stress (Sr) is between 0.45 and 0.55." Refer Autroads manual page
130 equation 9.3
Reviewer
Corrected
34 Equation 4-12 Page 75 Change "designers shall use Equation 4-13.." to "designers shall use
equation 4-12.." in the line below the eqation. Refer Austroads Manual
page 130, equation 9.3
Reviewer
Corrected
35 Equation 4-13 Page 75 Change title of Equation 4-13 to: "Equivalent Stress for use in
equations 4-11 and 4-12". Refer Austroads manual page 130
Reviewer
Corrected
36 Par 4.4.3 Construction procedure Page 78 Recommend that the use of stabilised layers beneath interlock paver
blocks be mentioned. Also bedding sand layer thickness of 50 mm
might be changed to 25 to 50 mm.
Reviewer
Added
37 Par 4.4.4.1 Design factors Page 79 Change "The Four .." to "The four " in the first paragraph L Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Corrected
38 Par 5.4.2 Functional evaluation of
existing pavement
Page 93 In the third bullet change "Refer to table 4-1 .." to "Refer to Table 5-1
.."
Reviewer
Corrected
Page 4 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
39 Par 5.5.6 Mechanistic design Page 102 Reference should be made to Austroads Guide to Pavement
Technology Part 5: Pavement Evaluation and Treatment Design
Reviewer
Corrected
40 Par 8.4 Pavement preservation
treatments
Page 144 Recommend that paragraph 8.5 Preservation Treatments be placed
before Paragraph 8.4 Pavement preservation treatments. The reason
being that the individual treatments mentioned in paragraph 8.4 are
discussed in detail in paragraph 8.5.
Reviewer
Corrected
41 Table 8-2: Pavement treatments and
Table 8-3 Pavement treatment cost
and expected life
Page 147 and page
148
Abbreviation "CIR" for cold in place recycling is used in comparison
with pages 136, 137 and 155 where the abreviation "CIPR" is used.
Recommend change to "CIPR" in these tables.
Reviewer
Corrected
42 Profile milling, cold in place recycling,
Hot-in -place asphalt recycling, Full-
depth asphalt repair (patching)
page 155 to page 157 These paragraphs should be numbered 8.5.2.6 ; 8.5.2.7; 8.5.2.8;
8.5.2.9 respectively
Reviewer
Corrected
43 Hot -in-place asphalt recycling page 156 In the third paragraph mention is made of adding "bitumen". This is the
Australian and American thermodology which is used worlwide. In this
manual "bitumen" is called "asphalt".
Reviewer
Corrected
44 Par 9.4 LCCA example page 171 The first line reads:"Figure 9-5 shows a step- by -step process"
This is not correct because Figure 9-5 is a photo of a highway.
Reviewer
Corrected
45 Appendix A: Developing Effective
Modulus of Subgrade Reaction
page 185 The first paragraph says "This appendix provides an excerp from the
1993 American Association of State " This exerp is not as on page
ii-37 par 3.2.1 of the 1993 AASHTO manual. The reference should be
corrected
Reviewer
Corrected
46 Cited References page 220 Add Austroads: Guide to Pavement Technology, Part 5: Pavement
Evaluation and Treatment Design. Synney Australia: Austroads
Incorporated, 2008. 978-1-921551-22-2
Reviewer
Added
47 Glossary Glossary to be added M Johan Calitz Aurecon Docment
Reviewer
Added
Page 5 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
1 Traffic Projections /2.3.6
Please include rational growth rate for major town
(example Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, western region, any
other major city area) based on the latest studies
(steam model 2015etc) conducted by the transport
agencies to enable the designer to have fair
assumption to predict future traffic.
L
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
This is included in the traffic manual
2 Equivlent Axle load factor /2.3.11
IT will be better if we used Standard axel load from
GCC truck manufacturing specification, or the truck
weight that adopted by DOT to defined standard axel
load that used in UAE. Also consider different type of
busses and their standard axle load factor for each one
seperately
L
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
PDM is general manual however, clients need to include
local axles.
3 Modified granular material /3.3
Provide extract of the specification for modified
granular material, percentage of cement, lime to be
added, expected stiffness, indirect tensile strength,
other properties etc.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
added
4 Stabilized material /3.4.2
Provide Figure showing the relationship between
indirect tensile strength, field stiffness of stabilized
material with layer coefficient.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
There are many relationships and none is recommended
Page 6 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
5 Recycled Material /3.8
There is no Design guide line provided in the manual
for the use of recycled pavement material for
rehabilitation of pavement structure. In fact most part
of the world these techniques have been adopted long
ago. As the Abu Dhabi Emirates mandates to use
sustainable design technique, the manual should have
more emphasized on these techniques by providing
design guideline, design example. Furthermore this
chapter should be expanded by taking into
consideration of case studies.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
Added but more information is included in the specification
manual
6 Recycled Material /3.9.4
Include Methodology for Cold In situ Recycling with
form bitumen, foamed asphalt mixes.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
Added in the maintenance chapter
7 Interlocking Pavers Design
The manual does not provide guideline for heavy duty
interlocking pavers design. The information provided
under this section is bare minimum.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
PDM is not entended for heavy duty such as in airport.
General guideline for regular interlocking pavers is given
8 Interlocking Pavers Design
Layer coefficient for, Concrete paver, sand bedding
considered in the example (section 4.4.4.1, paragraph
3) is incorrect as per the table 4-3.Layer coefficient for
sand bedding cannot be the same as Asphalt and table 4-
3 does not provide layer coefficient for concrete paver
as well.
H
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
reference added. However, this is an approximation that
was recommended by ICPI
Page 7 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
9 Unbound Granular material /6.3.2
The last paragraph of the above section states that the
minimum CBR for the sub base is 65%.But sub base,
CBR 60% material used in Al AIn , Similarly, Sub-
base with CBR 30% used in Dubai. Therefore please
provide reference to the above requirement to justify.
L
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
added
10 Pavement treatment cost and expected life
The Manual should use the cost inputs based on the
local condition rather than referring to US condition.
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
Modified as possible
11 Pavement treatment cost and expected life
The envinmental impact should be considered for the
cases, Alternatives 1 &2
L
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
The proposed method does not include the envirnmental
effect.
12 Cited references General Comment
The manual is more biased towards American
Standards. The author did not refer important design
guidelines adopted in the other developed countries
standards. The Author should also refer other standards
as well while compiling comprehensive documents.
Example .For heavy duty paving block design Author
should refer BS 7533-1:2001 which provide
comprehensive design guideline. Similarly, Recycle
Asphalt pavement design (Cold in situ recycling/ Hot
in place recycling as stated in the life cycle cost
example) no design guideline provided. Author could
have referred other standards adopted in the developed
countries
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
The manual covers Austrailian as well as American
standards
Page 8 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
13 Pavement Design Check list General Comment
Provide check list sheet that include requirements
information for the pavement design to assess designer
in revising pavement design documents
L
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
This would differ from one client to the other and each
should have his own requirements.
14
Emperical Pavement Design Example /4.5
Provide detailed example for pavement design using M-
E method
M
Al Ain
Municipality
Al Ain Municipality
Provided and added to chapter 4.
1 Pavement Design Manual
Traffic requires more details on Traffic count and axle
configurations
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
addressed in the final version
Add Examples
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
added
Techniques for Stabilization and Material selection
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
added
More details on Pavement Management Systems
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
This would be covered in the management manual
Maintenance chapter need to include diagnostic and
methods
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
added chapter on pavement evaluation
Graphics throughout the manual need to be improved
and made clearer.
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
All graphs are fixed
Add Chapter on over-weighted trucks and up-normal
loads damage to pavement
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Add section on analysis and data interpretation of
Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Added reference but no specific method is added since it
will depend on the software used for the backcalcualtions.
Add section on Paver interlocking blocks design use
UK
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Added
Add sketches for axle types
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Added
Adjust design lane, % of trucks and other traffic
factors.
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Corrected
Check equation 2.9 and add example
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Corrected
Page 9 of 10
A14 Document Title:
Deliverable
Ref:
A14.12
Title of Interim
Deliverable:
Priorities:
High Priority (H):
Low Priority (L):
Priority
(H,M,L)
DDC Response
Reviewer's
Organization
unacceptable.
and resubmitted.
Package Name:
DDC:
Add more details to page 23 and describe traffic
wander and other factors listed.
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Corrected
Include CBR power model
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Added
Emphasize that better quality material should be at the
top for empirical design.
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
text is added
Add more details on the Geo-grids functionality and
description
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Geo-grids specification is added in the specification
manual. Geogird impact in pavement design is not proven
yet
Comment on reliability and its impact on structure
design
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Text updated
Adjust the drainage coefficient to include 1.2 for
drainage layers.
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Corrected
Adjust Road Classes to reflect Highway classes (Truck
route, freeway, expressway, collector and local).
Dr.Salim/ Dr.
Nabel
DOT
Corrected
Page 10 of 10

Page 26

APPENDIX B: WORKSHOP PRESENTATION
This appendix provides the slides for the presentation given by PIL on the pavement design
manual draft final version during the second workshop on 12 November 2012.

5/6/2013
1
UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF UNIFYING AND STANDARDIZATION OF
HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PRACTICES
Pavement Design Manual Pavement Design Manual
Workshop on 12 November 2012 Workshop on 12 November 2012
Unifying and Standardization of Highway Engineering Practices
Manuals Developed by Parsons
Geometry 2
Roads and Highway Drainage Manual
Road Landscape Manual
Construction
Standard Specificationfor Roads and Structures Works
Volume1 Road Works
VolumeII Structure Works
Standard Bill of Quantities
Project Cost EstimatingManual
5/6/2013
2
Overall Objectives
Unify the approach for preparing BoQ and Cost Estimation for all
RoadProjects in the Emirates
Updateto recent international standards and practices
Inclusive for all conditions and types of road construction within
the Emirate
Produce high quality manuals and documents that are most
applicablefor the longest termpossible
Customize Manuals for Abu Dhabi environment utilizing Parsons
local work experience
Objective of Pavement Design Manual
Provides detailed guidelines for Pavement Structural
Design, that includes:
Structure Design of Flexible and Rigid Pavements,
Newand rehabilitation of pavement structures
LowVolume Roads
Life Cycle Cost analysis
Pavement Maintenance strategy
More details and analysis that require the Engineers
involvement and understanding of traffic, material,
environment and pavement structural design to
provide a sustainable and economical design.
5/6/2013
3
Preparation Approach and Methodology
Mechanistic Pavement
Design based on Guide to
Pavement Technology Part
2, Austroads, 2008, Australia.
Empirical Pavement Design
based on AASHTO Guide for
Design of Pavement
Structures, 1993, USA.
Other Documents
The manual shall be read in conjunction with the following
documents.
AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993
Guide to Pavement Technology Part 2, Austroads, 2008,
DoT Standard Specifications
DoT Roads Drainage Manual
DoT Standard Bill of Quantities
DoT Cost Estimating Manual
5/6/2013
4
Organization of the Pavement Design Manual
The PD manual is divided into ten different Chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Pavement Components
3. Pavement Materials
4. NewPavement Design
5. RehabilitationDesign
6. LowVolume Roads
7. Drainage Design
8. Pavement Maintenance
9. Life Cycle Cost Analysis
10.Pavement Management System.
Chapter 2 Pavement Components
Environmental
Empirical design correct subgrade modulus using
Relative Damage (U
f
)
ME design rainfall for subgrade modulus and
temperature for asphalt modulus
Traffic Analysis
Equivalent Single Axle load 80 kN
5/6/2013
5
Rainfall
56.3 mm
Weighted mean
annual air
temperature
45.0 C to 38.7 C,
43.5 C
5/6/2013
6
Traffic
Design life
Vehicle classification
Axle group configuration
Tire pressure
Vehicle count
Traffic projections
Design lanes
Directional factor
Percentage of trucks
Truck factor
Equivalent axle load factor
ESAL calculation
Axle Group type Load (kN)
Single axle, single tire 53
Single axle, dual tire 80
Tandem axle, single tire 90
Tandem axle, dual tire 135
Tri dem axle, dual tire 181
Quad axle, dual tire 221
Design Method
Load Damage
Exponent (m)
Empi rical 4
Mechanistic Cont rol Fatigue 5
Mechanistic Cont rol Rutting 7
EALF = (L/SL)
m
5/6/2013
7
Chapter 3 Pavement Materials
Material Characterization for pavement layers:
Subgrade
Subbase/Base
Cement Stabilized
Asphalt concrete
Plain concrete
General information on;
Geotextile and geogrid
Recycled Materials
Warm Mix Asphalt
Subgrade Soils
M
r
= 10 * CBR CBR < 20% (Empirical)
M
r
= 2555 * CBR
0.64
CBR > 20% (Empirical)
Log CBR = 2.494 - 1.131 log (DCP) (ME)
Back calculations Using Falling Weight
Deflectometer testing (ME)
5/6/2013
8
Aggregate Base Material
a
2
= 0.249(log
10
E
BS
) - 0.977 (per inch) (Empirical)
a
3
= 0.227(log
10
E
SB
) - 0.839 (per inch) (Empirical)
Mr Testing (ME)
Default Values (ME)
Cement Stabilized Material
a
2
= 0.25 (Empirical)
28 days Unconfined Testing (ME)
Default Values (ME)
Property
Lean Mix
Concrete
Base 4-5%
cement
Subbase
quality
crushed rock
2-4% cement
Subbase
quality
crushed rock
4-5% cement
Range of Modulus (MPa) 5000-15000 3000-8000 2000-5000 1500-3000
Typical Modulus (MPa) 7000 5000 3500 2000
Degree of anisotropy 1 1 1 1
Range of Poissons ratio 0.1-0.3 0.1-0.3 0.1-0.3 0.1-0.3
Typical value of Poissons ratio 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
5/6/2013
9
Asphalt Concrete Materials
a
1
= 0.44 (Empirical)
Asphalt Modulus testing (ME)
Shell Nomograph based on temperature, binder
and loading time (speed) (ME)
Chapter 4 New Design
Flexible, Rigid pavements
Interlocking pavers Blocks design
Empirical Design Based on 1993 AASHTO
Mechanistic Design Based on 2008 Austroads
(requires CYCRLY software)
Step by Step is given.
5/6/2013
10
5/6/2013
11
Chapter 4 New Design - ME
Traffic Foundation Climate Material Properties
Trial Section
Pavement Analysis Performance Criteria
Project Reliability
Comparison of Designs
Viable Design
Select Design
Inputs
Analysis
Selection
Accept
No
Yes
Chapter 4 New Design - ME
5/6/2013
12
Rigid Pavement
Empirical Design Based on AASHTO
Mechanistic Design Based on 2008 Austroads
(requires CYCRLY software)
Joint details is given
Dowels and tie bars design
Chapter 5 Rehabilitation
Important consideration
Pre-overlay repair
Milling
Recycling
Structural or functional overlay
Pavement Evaluation structural Capacity
Empirical overlay design 1993 AASHTO
ME overlay design 2008 Austroads
5/6/2013
13
Chapter 5 Rehabilitation - Investigation
Cause of Rutting Layer(s) Causing
Rut
Solution
Total pavement thickness
inadequate
Subgrade Thick overlay
Unstable granular layer due to
saturation
Base or subbase Remove unstable layer
over thick overlay
Unstable layer due to low shear
strength
Base Remove unstable layer or
thick overlay
Unstable AC mix (including
stripping)
Surface Remove unstable layer
Compaction by Traffic Surface, base,
subbase
Surface milling and/or
levelling overlay
Studded tire wear Surface Surface milling and/or
levelling overlay
For Example
Distress Type RequiredRepair
Alligator cracking Repair all high-severity alligator cracking.
Repair medium-severity cracking, unless using reflective
crack control or paving fabric.
Remove soft subsurface material.
Linear cracks Patch high-severity cracks.
Fill linear cracks greater than 0.25 inch with sand-asphalt
mixture or crack filler.
Apply reflective crack control for transverse cracks with
significant opening and closing.
Rutting Apply milling or place a levelling course to remove ruts.
Investigate which layer caused any severe rutting.
Surface irregularities Investigate depressions, humps, ad corrugations; apply
treatment as necessary, which typically involves removal
and replacement.
Repairs needed before overlay
5/6/2013
14
Structural Evaluation
Visual Survey and material testing
Nondestructive Testing (NDT)
Estimation of Remaining surface life
ME Overlay Design
Similar to New design
Evaluate Existing layer properties
Assume existing layers are fully cracked (no
remaining life)
5/6/2013
15
Chapter 6 Low Volume Roads
LVR Traffic is less than 1 million ESAL
Asphalt or Aggregate surfaced roads
Only 1993 AASHTO design
Lower Level of inputs
Aggregate surface treatment for stabilization
Asphalt treated
Cement treated
Minimum AC thickness of 60 mm.
Chapter 8 Pavement Maintenance
Distress Identification and Treatment options
Linked to Pavement Management System
Why Routine Maintenance
Extend Pavement service life
Reduce cost no major reconstruction
5/6/2013
16
Distress identification FHWA Distress Manual
3.1.1 Fatigue (alligator) cracking
3.1.2 Bleeding
3.1.3 Block cracking
3.1.4 Corrugation and shoving
3.1.5 Depression
3.1.6 Joint reflection cracking
3.1.7 Longitudinal cracking
3.1.8 Pat ching

3.1.9 Polished aggregat e
3.1.10 Potholes
3.1.11 Ravelling
3.1.12 Rutting
3.1.13 Slippage cracking
3.1.14 Stripping
3.1.15 Transverse (thermal) cracking
3.1.16 Water bleeding and pumping
3.1.17 Edge Cracking
Treatment options and cost
Pavement Treatments
1. Do not hing
2. Crack seal/fill
3. Fog seal
4. Scrub seal (broom seal)
5. Slurry seal
6. Chip seal
7. Microsurfacing
8. Micro-mill
9. CIR
10. HIPAR
11. Thin hot mix overlay
12. Patching
13. Thick overlay
14. Full-depth reclamation
15. Total reconstruction
5/6/2013
17
Chapter 9 Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Based on FHWA LCCA
Steps:
Establish alternatives
Determine an analysis period
Determine a discount rate
Determine maintenance and rehabilitation
frequencies
Estimate costs
Calculate life-cycle costs
Analyze LCCA results
Treat ment Expected Life (Years)
1) 50 mm overlay 7-10
2) 50 mm mill and overlay 10-15
3) Scrub seal 2-5
4) Slurry seal 3-8
5) Chip seal 3-6
6) Microsurf acing 3-8
7) Micro mill (25mm) 1-4
8) Cold-in-place recycling and
overlay
10-15
10) Hot-i n-place recycling 5-7
11) Thin hot mix overlay
(<50mm)
5-8
12) Patching 3-5
13) Thick overlay (125mm) 8-15
14) Full depth reclamation and
100 mm overlay
20+
15) Complete reconstruction 20+
Maintenance and Rehabilitation Frequencies
5/6/2013
18
Cost Estimation
Empirical design - Example
Option 1 Option 2
6 cm Asphalt Surface Course
25 cm Asphalt Base Course
35 cm Aggregate Base Layer
Subgrade Layer
17 cm Cement Stabilized Base Layer
Subgrade Layer
5/6/2013
19
ME Design Example Step 1
We have to start with a section
35 cm Aggregate Base Layer
Subgrade Layer
Traffic = 41 Million ESAL
WMAPT = 43.5 C
Estimate Material properties: Testing/Correlations
Asphalt layer: two mixtures Surface and base
Aggregate Base: CBR 65%, Mr = 255 Mpa
Subgrade Layer: CBR 10%, Mr = 100 Mpa
5/6/2013
20
Surface Course
Pen 40/50
T1 = 15.6 C Pen= 17
T2 = 14 C Pen = 43
A = 0.033
PI = 1.326
T
800pen
= 63.5 C
WMAPT = 43.5 C
Binder S = 5 Mpa
Binder by wt = 3.9%
Binder by Volume = 8%
Air voids % = 6%
Aggregate Volume = 86 %
Mix Modulus = 3000 Mpa
Base Course
Pen 60/70
T1 = 15.6 C Pen= 25
T2 = 14 C Pen = 64
A = 0.043
PI = -0.5101
T800pen = 50.38 C
WMAPT = 43.5 C
Binder S = 1 Mpa
Binder by wt = 3.5%
Binder by Volume = 7%
Air voids % = 6%
Aggregate Volume = 87 %
Mix Modulus = 1800 Mpa
5/6/2013
21
Linear Elastic Analysis Any Program
(recommend Circly associated with Austroads)
5/6/2013
22
Smix Vb Strain N
AC Surface
Layer
3000 8 4.74E-05 1,712,553,784
AC Base Layer 1800 7 8.92E-05 102,951,808
Subgrade 5.48E-04 404,913,284
Design Traffic (Million)
Empirical (power 4) = 41
ME- Fatigue (power 5) = 59
ME- Rutting (Power 7) = 161
Over Design
5/6/2013
23
Thanks!
Discussions
4.5 Empirical Pavement Design Example
This section provides an example for an empirical flexible pavement design using the 1993
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Guide for
Design of Pavement Structures.
The example is a 4 lane highway that will link Adu Dhabi Island to Al Ain. The soil is mainly
characterized as A-3 Silty-Sand soil with a CBR of 10%. The traffic study shows that the
current one way Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) is about 1700 vehicle with 60% Buses
and trucks (Classes 4 to 13). Flexible pavement is recommended for this road. However,
two scenarios will be used to compare the most economical option of the two. The first
option is to use typical multi layer structure with aggregate granular base layer. While, the
second option is to use a deep strength structure, which includes a cement stabilized base
layer.
The following are the required inputs for the pavement design.
4.5.1 Environment
The ground water table (GWT) along the roadway is deep and will not impact the moisture
content of the subgrade layer. Accordingly, no correction is need for the subgrade modulus.
4.5.2 Traffic
Traffic is very important and requires accurate data. A traffic survey was conducted in a
nearby existing road. Both vehicle count and vehicle classification was conducted in the
survey in addition to an axle load survey. The following parameters are taken for the
pavement design:
Vehicle Classifications: From the traffic survey it was found that the traffic is divided
into different vehicle classes as given Table 4-14. The AADT per vehicle class is
shown in the third column. The truck traffic from this would be the summation of the
vehicle counts from class 4 to class 13. This would yield an Annual Average Daily
Truck Traffic (AADTT) of 1700*0.6= 1020 vehicle per day.
Axle load distribution: the Axle load survey gave the percentage of axle load
distributions for each of the single, tandem and Tridem axles, as shown in Table
4-15, Table 4-16, and Table 4-17, respectively. These loads were used to calculate
the EALF as given in Equation 2-10. The standard axle load from Table 2-3 for the
single, tandem and Tridem axles were 80, 135 and 181 kN, respectively. Also, the
power used in the calculation is 4 for the empirical design method as given in Table
2-4. The EALF for each load group is given in the third column.
The EALF is then multiplied by the percentage of this axle load to obtain the
individual truck factor (TF) as shown in the fourth column. The individual values are
then summed up to obtain the total TF for each axle.
The total TF for all axles types summation of the three values i.e.
0.3069+0.7984+1.2914 = 2.3967.

Table 4-14: Vehicle Classification Distribution
Vehicle Class Percentage of Total Traffic AADT
1 0 0
2 10 170
3 30 510
4 1 17
5 30 510
6 6 102
7 2 34
8 5.5 93.5
9 13 221
10 2.08 35.36
11 0.3 5.1
12 0.06 1.02
13 0.06 1.02
Total 100 1700

Design life: 20 years
The growth rate was taken to be 6.5%. Using a linear growth factor (GF) as given in
Equation 2-7 will give a GF of 2.3.
The lane factor (LDF) and direction factor (DF) were both taken as 100% i.e. 1.
The previous parameters are used to calculate the total equivalent single axle load
(ESAL) as given in Equation 2-11.
ESAL = 1700*0.6*2.3967*2.3*1*1*20*365 = 41,046,106.

Table 4-15: Single Axle Load Distribution
Axle Load (KN) Percentage
Equivalent Axle Load
Factor (EALF) Single
TF
13.34 5.26 0.0 0.0000
17.79 3.235 0.0 0.0001
22.24 5.211 0.0 0.0003
26.69 5.151 0.0 0.0006
31.14 6.235 0.0 0.0014
35.59 8.435 0.0 0.0033
40.03 9.899 0.1 0.0062
44.48 11.163 0.1 0.0107
48.93 10.061 0.1 0.0141
53.38 8.144 0.2 0.0161
57.83 6.266 0.3 0.0171
62.28 4.755 0.4 0.0175
66.72 3.667 0.5 0.0177
71.17 2.967 0.6 0.0186
75.62 2.267 0.8 0.0181
80.07 1.818 1.0 0.0182
84.52 1.364 1.2 0.0170
88.96 1.031 1.5 0.0158
93.41 0.791 1.9 0.0147
97.86 0.541 2.2 0.0121
102.31 0.417 2.7 0.0112
106.76 0.29 3.2 0.0092
111.21 0.206 3.7 0.0077
115.65 0.243 4.4 0.0106
120.10 0.144 5.1 0.0073
124.55 0.084 5.9 0.0049
129.00 0.079 6.8 0.0053
133.45 0.04 7.7 0.0031
137.89 0.1 8.8 0.0088
142.34 0.042 10.0 0.0042
146.79 0.024 11.3 0.0027
151.24 0.017 12.8 0.0022
155.69 0.011 14.3 0.0016
160.14 0.01 16.1 0.0016
164.58 0.008 17.9 0.0014
169.03 0.008 19.9 0.0016
173.48 0.007 22.1 0.0015
177.93 0.009 24.5 0.0022
Total 100 0.3069

Table 4-16: Tandem Axle Load Distribution
Axle Load (KN) Percentage
Equivalent Axle Load
Factor (EALF) Tandem
TF
26.69 7.572 0.0 0.0001
35.59 7.496 0.0 0.0004
44.48 6.8 0.0 0.0008
53.38 6.618 0.0 0.0016
62.28 7.128 0.0 0.0032
71.17 6.75 0.1 0.0052
80.07 6.608 0.1 0.0082
88.96 6.499 0.2 0.0123
97.86 6.441 0.3 0.0178
106.76 5.657 0.4 0.0221
115.65 5.021 0.5 0.0270
124.55 4.818 0.7 0.0349
133.45 4.556 1.0 0.0435
142.34 3.799 1.2 0.0470
151.24 3.206 1.6 0.0505
160.14 2.496 2.0 0.0494
169.03 2.039 2.5 0.0501
177.93 1.509 3.0 0.0455
186.83 1.054 3.7 0.0387
195.72 0.826 4.4 0.0365
204.62 0.77 5.3 0.0406
213.51 0.543 6.3 0.0340
222.41 0.395 7.4 0.0291
231.31 0.309 8.6 0.0266
240.20 0.277 10.0 0.0278
249.10 0.212 11.6 0.0246
258.00 0.127 13.3 0.0169
266.89 0.12 15.3 0.0183
275.79 0.108 17.4 0.0188
284.69 0.058 19.8 0.0115
293.58 0.044 22.4 0.0098
302.48 0.039 25.2 0.0098
311.38 0.038 28.3 0.0108
320.27 0.027 31.7 0.0086
329.17 0.012 35.3 0.0042
338.06 0.012 39.3 0.0047
346.96 0.006 43.6 0.0026
355.86 0.01 48.3 0.0048
Total 100 0.7984

Table 4-17: Tridem Axle Load Distribution
Axle Load
(KN)
Percentage
Equivalent Axle
Load Factor
(EALF) Tridem
TF
53.38 29.409 0.0 0.0022
66.72 6.9 0.0 0.0013
80.07 5.725 0.0 0.0022
93.41 5.212 0.1 0.0037
106.76 3.423 0.1 0.0041
120.10 3.376 0.2 0.0065
133.45 4.24 0.3 0.0125
146.79 3.318 0.4 0.0144
160.14 5.169 0.6 0.0317
173.48 3.728 0.8 0.0315
186.83 6.634 1.1 0.0753
200.17 4.2 1.5 0.0628
213.51 3.268 1.9 0.0633
226.86 3.073 2.5 0.0758
240.20 2.864 3.1 0.0888
253.55 1.955 3.9 0.0753
266.89 1.252 4.7 0.0592
280.24 1.071 5.7 0.0615
293.58 1.12 6.9 0.0775
306.93 1.312 8.3 0.1085
320.27 0.812 9.8 0.0796
333.62 0.32 11.5 0.0369
346.96 0.318 13.5 0.0429
360.31 0.41 15.7 0.0644
373.65 0.461 18.2 0.0837
387.00 0.097 20.9 0.0203
400.34 0.056 23.9 0.0134
413.68 0.083 27.3 0.0226
427.03 0.017 31.0 0.0053
440.37 0.132 35.0 0.0463
453.72 0.045 39.5 0.0178
Total 100 1.2914

4.5.3 Materials
Flexible pavement structure can be composed of several layers such as the subgrade,
granular base/subbase, cement stabilized base and asphalt concrete layer. In the following
section the modulus of each possible layer will be estimated using the models given in
Chapter 3 of this manual.
4.5.3.1 Subgrade Layer
The subgrade layer resilient modulus (Mr) is calculated from CBR test results. As given in
the heading of the example, the subgrade soil in the road area is predominately A-3 Silty-
Sand soil with a minimum CBR of 10%. Equation 3-1 is used to estimate the Mr of the
subgrade layer. The subgrade Mr is an essential input into the 1993 AASHTO design
equation.
Mr = 1500*10= 15,000 psi. = 100 MPa
4.5.3.2 Aggregate Base Layer
According to Abu Dhabi Roads Material Specifications, the aggregate base layer material
should satisfy a minimum CBR of 65%. If this value is assumed to be achieved in the site
during construction, then the Mr for the base layer would be calculated from Equation 3-2.
Mr = 2555*65^0.64 = 36,953 psi = 255 MPa.
Figure 3-1 is then used to estimate the layer coefficient for the granular base layer (a2)
which is yield to be 0.13 per inch = 0.05 per cm.
4.5.3.3 Cement Stabilized base layer
The cement stabilized base (CTB) layer is used as a deep strength layer in such cases that
heavy traffic is expected to use the pavement structure. The cement stabilized layer will
increase the load carrying capacity of the pavement structure without the need to increase
the total thickness of the pavement structure. Figure 3-3 can be used to obtain the layer
coefficient based on unconfined compressive strength after 7 days of the CTB material. Test
results from project using CTB provided a unconfined compressive strength of 900 psi or a
modulus of 850,000 psi (5,860 MPa). This value will yield a layer coefficient of 0.24 per inch
(0.10 per cm).
4.5.3.4 Asphalt Concrete Layer
The aggregate gradation and binder content in Abu Dhabi mix design specification differ for
different asphalt concrete (AC) layer types mainly, surface course and base course. This
difference in gradation and binder content will provide a different modulus for each layer.
However, in the empirical design the same modulus is assumed for all AC layers. In the
empirical pavement design the AC materials is assumed to have a resilient modulus of 3.1
GPa (450,000 psi) which will yield a layer coefficient value of 0.44 per inch and 0.17 per cm.
In some cases when an open graded friction course or an existing asphalt layer is used in
the pavement structure the modulus value can be reduced to 300,000 psi which reduces the
layer coefficient to 0.35 per inch as given in Figure 3-5. For this example, the common a1
value of 0.44 will be used.
4.5.4 Structure design
The traffic and material are the main inputs for the pavement structure design. However,
additional inputs are required according to the 1993 AASHTO guide procedure. The
additional inputs are as follows for Rural Roads:
Reliability level (%) = 99.9 % as given in Table 4-1 for Rural Roads.
Standard normal deviate = -3.09052 for the 99.9 % reliability
Initial serviceability = 4.2
Terminal Serviceability = 3.0
Overall standard deviation = 0.45
In addition to:
ESAL = 41,046,106
Subgrade Mr = 15,000 psi
Base Mr = 36,953 psi
CTB Mr = 850,000 psi
Layer coefficient for AC a1 = 0.17
Layer coefficient for aggregate base a2 = 0.05
Layer coefficient for CTB base a2 = 0.10

Equation 4-1 is then used to calculate the required structure number (SN) at the top of the
subgrade (SN2) and base layer (SN1).
The required SN2 is equal to 6.93. While, SN1 is equal to 5.18. SN1 is obtained by using
the MR of the base layer as the input to the 1993 AASHTO equation.
Option 1 using aggregate granular base:
The total thickness of the AC layer = SN1 / a1 = 5.18/0.17 = 30.5 cm i.e. 31 cm. This can be
divided into 6 cm surface course and 25 cm base course.
The thickness of the base layer = (SN2 SN1)/a2 = (6.93 (31*0.17))/0.05 = 33.2 cm i.e. 35
cm. This can be divided into 15 cm granular base layer and 20 cm granular subbase layer.
Total SN = 31*0.17+35*0.05=7.02, which exceeds the 6.93 required from the 1993 AASHTO
equation.
Option 2 using cement stabilized base:
In case of using the CTB, a new SN1 could have been obtained to reduce the AC thickness.
However, in this example the AC thickness is kept the same at 31 cm, and makes the
modification in the base layer thickness.
The thickness of the base layer = (SN2 SN1)/a2 = (6.93 (31*0.17))/0.1 = 16.6 cm i.e. 17
cm of a CTB base layer.
Total SN = 31*0.17+17*0.1=6.97, which exceeds the 6.93 required from the 1993 AASHTO
equation.
4.5.5 Cost Analysis
There are two options for the pavement structure design for the given road, the first option
has a total thickness of 66 cm and uses the aggregate as a base. While, the second option
has a total thickness of 48 cm and uses the cement stabilized bases (CTB). These two
options yield a cost difference in its construction as well as maintenance frequency over the
life of the pavement. The initial construction cost will be considered here for this example,
while for maintenance cost and users cost due to maintenance can be check in the example
in Life cycle cost analysis Chapter 9 of this manual.
The AC cost will be the same since the AC thickness was kept constant. The cost of the 30
cm of the aggregate base costs 50 AED per unit area. The cost of the 17 cm of CTB is 40
AED per unit area. The total area of the project is 10 km with 4 lane road (10*1000*4*3.65 =
146,000 square meter). Accordingly, the expected cost saving in only the initial construction
cost is 10*146,000, which is about 1.5 million AED.


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