NEED FOR HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

Road maintenance is one of the important components of the entire road system. The maintenance
operations involve the assessment of road condition, diagnosis of the problem and adopting the most
appropriate maintenance steps. This is applied not only in poor roads but also to those that are well-
designed. This is because different types of materials, pavements, or techniques used in the
construction, requires different ways of handling.

GENERAL CAUSES OF PAVEMENT FAILURES

Some of the general causes of pavement failures needing maintenance measures may be classified as
given below:

(a) Defects in the quality of materials used.

(b) Defects in construction method and quality control during construction.

(c) Inadequate surface or subsurface drainage in the locality resulting in the stagnation of water in the
subgrade or in any of the pavement layers.

(d) Increase in the magnitude of wheel loads and the number of load repetitions due to increase in
traffic volume.

(e) Settlement of foundation of embankment of the fill material itself.

(f) Environmental factors including heavy rainfall, soil erosion, high water table, snow fall, frost action,
etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF MAINTENANCE WORKS

The various items of highway maintenance works may be broadly classified under three heads:

(a) Routine maintenance/repairs: These include filling up of pot holes and patch repairs,
maintenance of shoulders and the cross slope, up-keep of the road side drains and clearing
choked culverts, maintenance signs, arboriculture, inspection bungalows, etc. of miscellaneous
items like road
(b) (b) Periodic maintenance: These include renewals of wearing course of pavement surface and
preventive maintenance of various items
(c) (c) Special repairs: These include strengthening of pavement structure or overlay construction,
reconstruction of pavement, widening of roads, repairs of damages caused by floods, providing
additional safety measures like islands, sings etc.

MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The type and extent of maintenance requirement for a road depend on the serviceability standard laid
down, the maintenance needs funds available and the priorities for the maintenance operations. As
several interlinked factors are involved in the maintenance works of road network consisting of different
categories of roads, a system approach is appropriate for the road maintenance management. The
various factors to be included in the maintenance management system are:

(i) Minimum acceptable serviceability standards for the maintenance of different categories of roads.

(ii) Field surveys for the evaluation of maintenance requirements.

(iii) Various factors influencing the maintenance needs such as subgrade soil, drainage, climate, traffic,
environmental condition, etc.

(iv) Estimation of rate of deterioration of the pavement under the prevailing set of conditions.

(v) Type and extent of maintenance requirements and various possible alternatives and their economic
evaluation.

(vi) Availability of funds.

(vii) Maintenance cost, availability of materials, man power and equipment.

(viii) Need based allocation for optimum utilization of inputs and fixing maintenance priorities.

PAVEMENT FAILURES

GENERAL

Pavement failure in both flexible and rigid types result from a combination of factors. Flexible
pavements show signs such as potholes, ruts, cracks, localized depressions, and settlements, with
depressions often causing nearby heaving that creates a wavy surface. Excessive unevenness is also
considered a form of failure.

The deterioration of bituminous pavements is accelerated by aging, oxidation, and water retention
within voids or cracks. Failures in pavement layers can lead to surface distortions like waves,
corrugations, or ruts. On the other hand, rigid pavement failure is characterized by cracks, breaks, or
subsidence due to repeated loads, fatigue, and structural weaknesses. While rigid pavements can
tolerate minor irregularities in underlying layers due to their inherent bending strength, cracks often
originate at joints, corners, and slab edges.

Temperature changes can also cause new concrete pavements to crack, even without traffic. In both
types of pavements, the failure results from the interplay of structural deficiencies, environmental
factors, and material degradation.

FAILURES IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

Failures in Subgrade
This can be noticed in the form of excessive undulations or waves and
corrugations in the pavement surface. The lateral shoving of Pavement near the
edge along the wheel path of vehicles is due to insufficient bearing capacity or a
shear failure in subgrade soil. Excessive unevenness of pavement surface is
considered as pavement failure.
The failure of subgrade may be attributed due to 2 basic reasons:
1. Inadequate stability- may be dues to inherent weakness of the soil itself or
excessive moisture or improper compaction.
2. Excessive stress application- due to inadequate pavement thickness or
loads in excess of design value.

The deformation of soil subgrade and other pavement materials are found to
increase with increase in number of load repetitions.
 Low stress on subgrade or pavement = elastic deformation
 Inadequate layer compaction = consolidation deformation
 Excessive stress (plastic flow takes place) = plastic deformation
The type of damage in flexible pavement that can be caused by traffic due to
subgrade failure or due to inadequate and improper compaction of subgrade
and other pavement layers has been illustrated in Fig 10.3
Failure in Sub-base or Base Courses
Following are the chief types of sub-base or base course failures:
(i) Inadequate stability or strength.
(ii) Loss of binding action.
(iii) Loss of base course materials.
(iv) Inadequate wearing course.
(v) Use of inferior materials and crushing of base course materials.
(vi) Lack of lateral confinement for the granular base course.

Inadequate stability or strength

Poor mix proportioning or inadequate thickness are main reasons for the lack
of stability or strength of sub-base or base course. Improper quality control
during the construction results in poor base course.

Loss of binding action

Due to the internal movements of aggregate in sub-base or base course
layers under the repeated stress applications, the composite structure of the
layers gets disturbed. This results in loosening of the total mass and
formation of alligator cracks on the bituminous surfacing of flexible
pavements. There is also loss of binding action resulting in low stability and
poor load transmitting property of the pavement layer. Excessive pavement
deformations are thus caused in this layer.

Loss of base course materials

The loss of base course materials is only possible when either the base
course is not covered with a wearing course or the wearing course has
completely worn out. Due to the fast-moving vehicles plying on the road,
there is a suction caused between the pneumatic tires and the exposed base
course material. This causes removal of binding material in WBM base and
the stone aggregates are left in a loose state.
The exposed aggregates of the base course also may form dust due to the
abrading action and attrition. With further use of such pavement sections,
there is loss of stone aggregates forming pot holes. The removal of materials
is called ravelling. Dust nuisance also develops under these circumstances.

Inadequate wearing course

Absence of wearing course or inadequate thickness or stability of wearing
course exposes the base course to the damaging effects of climatic
variations mainly due to rains, frost action and the traffic.

Use of inferior materials

Many failures, mainly structural failures are attributed due to the use of
inferior materials in the paving jobs. Some materials exhibit satisfactory
characteristics initially, but show rapid deterioration due to weathering.

Failure of wearing course

Failure of wearing course are observed due to lack of proper mix design.
Improper gradation of aggregates, inadequate binder content and inferior
type of binder result in poor bituminous surfacing. Besides the design aspect,
the bituminous construction requires a high degree of quality control, since
over or under estimated binder content, are both greatly damaging to the
resulting paving mix including temperature controls.
Volatilization and oxidation of binder also make the bituminous surfacing
brittle and cause cracking of the pavement surface which further allows
seepage of rain water to harm the underlying layers.

TYPICAL FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT FAILURES

Following are some of the typical flexible pavement failures:
(i) Alligator (map) cracking
(ii) Consolidation of pavement layers
(iii) Shear failure
(iv) Longitudinal cracking
(v) Frost heaving
(vi) Lack of binding (keying) to the lower course
(vii) Reflection cracking
(viii) Formation of waves and corrugation.

Alligator (map) cracking

This is the most common type of failure and occurs due to relative movement
of pavement layer materials.

Consolidation of Pavement Layers Formation of ruts are mainly attributed to

the consolidation of one or more layers of pavement. The repeated
application of loads along the same wheel path causes cumulative
deformation resulting in consolidation deformation or longitudinal ruts.

Shear Failure & Cracking

Shear failures are associated with the inherent weakness of the pavement
mixtures, the shearing resistance being low due to inadequate stability or
excessively heavy loading.

Longitudinal Cracking
Due to frost action and differential volume changes in subgrade longitudinal
cracking is caused in pavement traversing through the full pavement
thickness.
 Frost Heaving
Frost heaving are often misunderstood for shear or other types of failures. In
shear failure, the upheaval of portion of pavement is followed with a
depression. In the case of frost heaving, there is mostly a localized heaving-
up pavement portion depending upon the ground water and climatic
conditions.

Lack of Binding with Lower Layer

Slipping occurs when the surface course is not keyed/bound with the
underlying base. This results in opening up and loss of pavement materials
forming patches or pot holes. Such conditions are more frequent in case
when the bituminous surfacing is provided over the existing cement concrete
base course or soil-cement base course. This condition is more pronounced
when the prime/tack coat in between two layers is lacking.

Reflection Cracking
This type of cracking is observed in bituminous overlays provided over
existing cement concrete pavements. The crack pattern as existing in
cement concrete pavements are mostly reflected on bituminous surfacing in
the same pattern. Structural action of the total pavement section is not much
influenced by the presence of reflection cracks but since the cracks appear at
the surface, these allow surface water to seep through and cause damage to
the soil subgrade or result in mud pumping.

FAILURE IN CEMENT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS

Failure of cement concrete pavements are recognized mainly by the
foundation of structural cracking. The failures ar mainly due to two factors.
(i) Deficiency of pavement materials
(ii) Structural inadequacy of the pavement system.
Deficiency of Pavement Materials
Following are the chief causes which would give rise to the different defects or
failures of cement concrete pavement:
 (i) Soft aggregates
(ii) Poor workmanship in joint construction
(iii) Poor joint filler and sealer material
(iv) Poor surface finish
(v) Improper and insufficient curing
The various defects that creep in due to the above are
(i) Disintegration of cement concrete
(ii) Formation of cracking
(iii) Spalling of joints
(iv) Poor riding surface
(v) Slippery surface
(vi) Formation of shrinkage cracks
(vii) Ingress of surface water and further progressive failures
Structural Inadequacy of Pavement System
Inadequate subgrade support pavement thickness would be a major cause of
developing structural cracking in pavements.
Following are the causes of and types of failure which develop:
(i) Inadequate pavement thickness
(ii) Inadequate subgrade support and poor subgrade soil
(iii) Incorrect spacing of joints
Above would give rise to the failures of the following types:
(i) Cracking of slab corners
(ii) Cracking of pavements longitudinally
(iii) Settlement of slabs
(iv) Widening of joints
(v) Mud pumping

TYPICAL RIGID PAVEMENT FAILURES

Following are some typical and basic types of failures in rigid pavements which
are dealt here in detail:
(i) Scaling of cement concrete
(ii) Shrinkage cracks
(iii) Spalling of joints
(iv) Warping cracks
(v) Mud pumping
(vi) Structural cracks
Scaling of Cement Concrete
Scaling is observed in cement concrete pavement showing overall deterioration
of the concrete. The scaling is mainly attributed due to the deficiency in the mix
or presence of some chemical impurities which damage the mix. Further due to
excessive vibration given to mix, the cement mortar comes to the top during
construction and thus with use, the cement mortar gets abraded exposing the
aggregate of the mix. This makes the pavement surface rough and shabby in
appearance.

Shrinkage Cracks
During the curing operation of cement concrete pavements immediately after
the construction, the shrinkage cracks normally develop. The placement of
cracks is in longitudinal as well as in transverse direction.

Spalling of Joint
Sometimes when pre-formed filler materials are placed during casting of
pavement slabs, the placement is somehow dislocated and filler is thus placed
at an angle. The concreting is completed without noticing this faulty alignment
of the filler material. Thus, this forms an overhang of a concrete layer on the top
side and the joint later on shows excessive cracking and subsidence.

Warping Cracks
If the joints are not well-designed to accommodate the warping of slab at edges,
this results in development of excessive stresses due to warping and the slab
develops cracking at the edges in an irregular pattern. Hinge joints are generally
provided for relieving the slabs of warping stresses. There is no structural defect
due to the warping cracks if proper reinforcement is provided at the longitudinal
and transverse joints as it takes care of the structural adequacy.

Mud Pumping
Mud pumping is recognized when the solid slurry ejects out through the joints
and cracks of cement concrete pavement caused during the downward
movement of slab under the heavy wheel loads. Following are the factors which
cause the mud pumping:
(i) Extent of slab deflection
(ii) Type of subgrade soil
(iii) Amount of free water