Chapter 2

Pavement Design

The deterioration of paved roads is caused by traffic results from both the magnitude of the
individual wheel loads and the number of times these loads are applied. Hence, to design a
paved highway, it is necessary to consider not only the traffic volume or the total number of
vehicles that will use the road but also to predict the number of repetitions of each axle load
group (or wheel load group) during the design period. To convert the traffic volumes into
cumulative equivalent standard axle loads (ESAL) which is one design parameter in pavement
design) equivalency factors are used.

On the other hand, the mechanism of deterioration of gravel roads differs from that of paved
roads. Design of thickness of gravel roads is directly related to the number of vehicles using
the road rather than the number of equivalent standard axles as that for paved roads. The
traffic volume is therefore used in the design of unpaved roads (gravel roads), as opposed to
the paved roads which require the conversion of traffic volumes into the appropriate
cumulative number of equivalent standard axles.

In this section, method of determining the traffic volume and ESAL with reference to
Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) Pavement Design Manual will be discussed.

Traffic Analysis
 The deterioration of paved roads by traffic results both from
o Magnitude of Load
o Repetition of Load
 Hence, to design a paved highway, it is necessary to consider
o the traffic volume or the total number of vehicles that will use the road &
o to predict the number of repetitions of each axle load group (or wheel load group)
during the design period.
o The traffic volume is converted into cumulative equivalent standard axle loads
(ESAL) using equivalency factors (EALF).
o CESAL is one design parameter in pavement design
 Gravel Roads - mechanism of deterioration of gravel roads different from that of paved
roads.
o Design of thickness of gravel roads is more related to the number of vehicles using
the road rather than the CESAL.
o The Traffic Volume in terms of initial AADT is used in the design of unpaved roads
(gravel roads),

The following Parameters and Considerations/Steps are involved in Traffic Analysis for
pavement design.
Design Period
The length or duration of time during which the pavement structure is expected to function
satisfactorily without the need for major intervention (rehabilitation such as overlays or
reconstruction) or the duration in time until the pavement structure reaches its terminal
condition (failure condition). Selecting appropriate design period depends on

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  Functional importance of the road
 Traffic volume
 Location and terrain of the project
 Financial constraints
 Difficulty in forecasting traffic

Longer Design Period – for important roads, high traffic volume, roads in difficult location
and terrain where regular maintenance is costly and difficult due to access problems or lack of
construction material

Short Design Period – if there is problem in traffic forecasting, financial constraints, etc.
ERA recommended: Design Period

Road Classification Design Period (years)

Trunk Road 20
Link Road 20
Main Access Road 15
Other Roads 10

Determine Traffic Volume (ADT, AADT)

i) Vehicle classification
 Small axle loads from private cars and other light vehicles do not cause significant
pavement damage.
 Damage caused by heavier vehicles (commercial vehicles)
 Hence, important to distinguish
o the proportion of vehicles which cause pavement damage (commercial vehicles)
from total traffic
 To do this, we need to have a vehicle classification system –
o To distinguish between commercial vehicles and small cars
o Distinguish between the different types of commercial vehicles and group them
according to their type, size (loading), configuration, etc.
 ERA vehicle classification system

Table 2-1: ERA Vehicle Classification

Vehicle Type of Vehicle Description

Code
1 Small car Passenger cars, minibuses (up to 24-passenger seats), taxis,
pick-ups, and Land Cruisers, Land Rovers, etc.

2 Bus Medium and large size buses above 24 passenger seats

3 Medium Truck Small and medium sized trucks including tankers up to 7 tons

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 load

4 Heavy Truck Trucks above 7 tons load

5 Articulated Truck Trucks with trailer or semi-trailer and Tanker Trailers

ii) Traffic Count

Traffic Count is necessary:
 To assess the traffic-carrying capacity of different types of roads
 Examine the distribution of traffic between the available traffic lanes
 In the preparation of maintenance schedules for in-service roads
 In the forecasting of expected traffic on a proposed new road from
traffic studies on the surrounding road system

Traffic volume data determined from:

o Historical traffic data available in relevant authorities (ERA conducts regularly 3
times a year (Feb., Jul., Nov.) traffic counts on its major road network) and/or
o By conducting classified traffic counts:
 On the road to be designed – if the road is an existing road and the
project is Upgrading, Rehabilitation, Maintenance, reconstruction, etc.
 On other parallel routes and/or adjacent roads – for new roads
 Traffic volume data may vary daily, weekly, seasonally.
 Hence to avoid error in traffic analysis and capture the average yearly trend, minimum
7 days count recommended
 ERA recommended procedure
o Conduct 7 days classified traffic count
 5 days for 16 hrs
 Minimum 2 days for 24 hrs (one week day and one weekend)
 For long projects, there may be large difference in traffic volume along the road and
hence it is necessary to make the traffic counts at several locations.

iii) ADT (Average Daily Traffic)

 ADT is determined from the traffic count data as follows

o Adjust the 16hrs traffic count data into 24hr data by multiplying with the average
night adjustment factor
 Night adjustment factor = (24hr traffic)/(16hr traffic) :- obtained from
the two days 24hr count data.
o (ADT)o = the current Average Daily Traffic= Average of the 7 days 24 hr traffic
volume data

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 iv) (AADT)o (Annual Average Daily Traffic = total annual traffic in both directions
divided by 365)

 In order to capture the average annual traffic flow trend, adjustment must be made for
seasonal traffic variation,
 Hence traffic count as above must be made at different representative seasons (ERA
conducts traffic counts on February, July and November)
 Make adjustment to (ADT)o – based on the season at which the current traffic count
belongs to and based on seasonal adjustment factors for the road (or similar roads)
derived from historic traffic data (ERA or other regional/national sources)
 (AADT)o = (ADT)o adjusted for seasonal variation

Traffic Forecast – determining traffic growth rate over the design period
 Very uncertain process
 Requires making analysis and forecast of past and future traffic growth trends, social
and economic development trends, etc
 In forecasting, Traffic categorized into the following:

 Normal Traffic: Traffic that would pass along the existing road or track even if no
new or improved pavement were provided.
o Forecasted by extrapolating data on traffic levels and assume that growth
will remain either
 Constant in absolute terms i.e. a fixed number of vehicles per year,
or
 Constant in relative terms i.e. a fixed percentage increase.
o Growth rate can also be related linearly to anticipated Gross Domestic
Product (GDP).
 Diverted Traffic: Traffic that changes from another route (or mode of transport)
to the project road because of the improved pavement, but still travels between the
same origin and destination.
o Origin and destination surveys (O/D survey) should preferably be carried
out to provide data on the traffic diversions likely to arise.

 Generated Traffic:
o Additional traffic which occurs in response to the provision or improvement of
the road.
o It may arise either because a journey becomes more attractive by virtue of a
cost or time reduction or because of the increased development that is brought
about by the road investment.
o Generated traffic is also difficult to forecast accurately and can be easily
overestimated.
 From thorough analysis of economic, social and development trends, determine
overall growth rate r for all vehicle categories or separate growth rate ri for each
vehicle category.

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Axle Load Survey
 Carried out together with the traffic count
 Portable vehicle(wheel) weighing devices or weigh in motion (WIM) devices can be
used for survey
 Each axle of the vehicle is weighed and EALF computed for each axle

4.5
L 
EALF   x  (2.1)
 80 
 Each axle of a tandem axle or tridem axle assembly is considered as one repetition and
EALF calculated for each axle i.e. a tandem axle constitutes two load repetitions and a
tridem axle constitutes three load repetitions. (according to ERA Pavement design
manual)
 AASHTO pavement design procedure considers each passage of a tandem or tridem
axle assembly as one repetition and EALF calculated correspondingly.

 Truck factor
o Truck factor can be computed for each vehicle by summing up the number of ESAL
per vehicle
o Average truck factor can be computed for each vehicle category (for example for
Buses, Light Trucks, Medium Trucks, etc.), by summing up the ESAL of all the
vehicles in each category and dividing by the number of vehicles (of that category)
weighed:

 ESAL
j 1
j
(2.2)
TFi 
n
Where TFi = Truck factor for the ith vehicle category
n = number of vehicles weighed (of the ith vehicle category) during the axle
load survey
ESALj = number of equivalent standard axle loads for the jth vehicle

Design Traffic Loading

The data and parameters obtained from the studies discussed in the preceding sections can
now be used to estimate the design cumulative design traffic volume and loading.

i) Adjustment for Lane and Directional Distribution of Traffic – the AADT should be
adjusted as follows
Lane Distribution Factor (P): accounts for the proportion of commercial vehicles in the
design lane. For two lane highways, the lane in each direction is the design lane, so the
lane distribution factor is 100%. For multilane highways, the design lane is the heavily
loaded lane (outside lane).

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 Table 2-2: Lane Distribution Factors (ERA/AASHTO)

Number of Lanes Percent Traffic (ESAL)

in each direction in design Lane
1 100
2 80 – 100
3 60 – 80
4 50 – 75

Directional Distribution Factor (D): factor that accounts for any directional variation in
total traffic volume or loading pattern. It is usually 0.5 (50%). However, could be
adjusted based on actual condition (if there is directional tendency to commercial vehicle
distribution (volume or loading); for example if the heavy vehicles in one direction are
loaded and come back empty in the other direction).

ii) Calculating (AADT)1

 AADT1 = Annual Average Daily Traffic (both directions) at year of Road Opening
(year at which construction works are completed and the whole road is made open for
traffic).
 If time between traffic count year (design time) and estimated year of road opening =
x, then

AADT1 = AADT0 (1+r)x (1.3)

 Note that AADT1 is used as the Design Traffic Parameter for Gravel Roads (ERA
Pavement Design Manual)

iii) Cumulative Traffic Volume (T) – can be computed for all traffic (T) or for each vehicle
class (Ti)

Ti = 365 (P) (D) AADT1i [(1+ri)N – 1] / ( ri ) (1.4)

Ti = cumulative volume of traffic for the i th commercial vehicle class in the design
lane over the design period (adjusted for lane distribution and direction).
ri = annual growth rate for the ith commercial vehicle class
P = Lane distribution factor; D = Directional distribution factor
N = Design Period in years
iv) Design Traffic (Cumulative Equivalent Standard Axle Load - CESAL) – is computed by
multiplying the total traffic volume for each vehicle category (T i) by its corresponding
truck factor (TFi)

Design Traffic Load = CESAL=∑(Ti x TFi) (1.5)

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v) The CESAL is used to determine the traffic class to be employed for pavement design.
Table 2-3: ERA Traffic Classes for Flexible Pavement Design

Traffic classes Range (106 ESAs)

T1 <0.3
T2 0.3 – 0.7
T3 0.7 – 1.5
T4 1.5 – 3
T5 3–6
T6 6 – 10
T7 10 – 17
T8 17 – 30

Design Example

Initial traffic volumes in terms of AADTs have been established for 2001 for a section of a
trunk road under study, as follows:

Vehicle classification 2001 AADT

Car 250
Bus 40
Truck 130
Truck-trailer 180

The anticipated traffic growth is a constant 5%, and the opening of the road is scheduled for
2005. In addition, an axle load survey has been conducted, giving representative axle loads for
the various classes of heavy vehicles, such as given below for truck-trailers (it is assumed that
the loads are equally representative for each direction of traffic):

Axle loads (Kg)

Vehicle No Axle 1 Axle 2 Axle 3 Axle 4

1 6780 14150 8290 8370

2 6260 12920 8090 9940
3 6350 13000 8490 9340
4 5480 12480 7940 9470
5 6450 8880 6290 10160
6 5550 12240 8550 10150
7 5500 11820 7640 9420
8 4570 13930 2720 2410
9 4190 15300 3110 2450
10 4940 15060 2880 2800

The projected AADTs in 2005 can be calculated as (AADTs in 2001) x (1.05)3, and the
corresponding one-directional volumes for each class of vehicle in 2005 are:

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 Vehicle classification One-directional traffic volume in 2005

Car 145
Bus 23
Truck 75
Truck-trailer 104

Selecting, for this trunk road, a design period of 20 years, the cumulative number of vehicles
in one direction over the design period is calculated as:

Vehicle classification Cumulative no. of vehicles in one direction over 20 year

Car 365x145[(1.05)20-1]/0.05=1750016
Bus 365x23[(1.05)20-1]/0.05=277589
Truck 365x75[(1.05)20-1]/0.05=905180
Truck-trailer 365x104[(1.05)20-1]/0.05=1255184

Equivalency factors for the sample of truck-trailers, and a mean equivalency factor for that
class of heavy vehicles, can be calculated as outlined below:

Vehicle No Axle 1 Axle 2 Axle 3 Axle 4 Total

Load Factor Load Factor Load Factor Load Factor Factor
1 6780 0.43 14150 11.91 8290 1.07 8370 1.12 14.54
2 6260 0.30 12920 7.91 8090 0.96 9940 2.43 11.60
3 6350 0.32 13000 8.13 8490 1.20 9340 1.84 11.49
4 5480 0.17 12480 6.77 7940 0.88 9470 1.95 9.77
5 6450 0.35 8880 1.46 6290 0.31 10160 2.68 4.80
6 5550 0.18 12240 6.20 8550 1.23 10150 2.67 10.28
7 5500 0.17 11820 5.30 7640 0.74 9420 1.91 8.12
8 4570 0.07 13930 11.10 2720 0.01 2410 0.00 11.18
9 4190 0.05 15300 16.92 3110 0.01 2450 0.00 16.99
10 4940 0.10 15060 15.76 2880 0.01 2800 0.01 15.88
Mean equivalency factor for truck-trailers = 11.47

For the sake of this example, it will be assumed that similar calculations have been performed,
giving mean equivalency factors for buses and trucks of 0.14 and 6.67 respectively.

Finally, the cumulative numbers of ESAs over the design period are calculated as follows,
using the cumulative numbers of vehicles previously calculated and the equivalency factors:

Vehicle classification Cum. no. of vehicles Equivalency factor 106 ESAs

Car 1750016 0.00 0.0

Bus 277589 0.14 0.0
Truck 905180 6.67 6.0
Truck-trailer 1255184 11.47 14.4
Total ESAs = 20.4

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Based on the above analysis, the trunk road under study would belong to the traffic class T8
for flexible pavement design.

Table 2-3: Traffic Classes for Flexible Pavement Design

Traffic classes Range (106 ESAs)

T1 < 0.3
T2 0.3 - 0.7
T3 0.7 - 1.5
T4 1.5 - 3.0
T5 3.0 - 6.0
T6 6.0 - 10
T7 10 - 17
T8 17 – 30