Civil Engineering ReferencePoint Suite
Use these ReferencePoints to learn about various civil engineering areas including transportation and geotechnical topics.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Civil Engineering ReferencePoint Suite
Transportation
- Point 1: Introduction to Pavements
- Point 2: Using Demand Forecasting Models in Transportation Engineering
Ranjeet Joshi
The earth's surface is undulated due to rocky terrain, mounds, and uneven slopes, which prevents easy locomotion. Pavements provide a solution to this unevenness of the earth's surface. In addition, pavements distribute the load of vehicles on underlying foundational soil.
This article introduces various types of pavements, such as flexible and rigid, and describes how to analyze, design, and construct them. It also explains different types of pavement failures and their causes.
Types of Pavements
A pavement is any flat surface used for smooth locomotion. Pavements provide a surface area on which vehicles impart load. Load and area together constitute stress, which is the force per unit area. Stress is a cause of deflection in pavements. The construction material of pavements must be strong enough to support the deflection.
Strain is a measure of the overall effect of applied external forces. The modulus of elasticity represents the ratio of stress over strain, which can be specified as:
Modulus of elasticity = Stress/Strain
A high modulus of elasticity signifies low deflection on the application of high-intensity loads. Material with a high modulus of elasticity is termed stiff or rigid while material with a low modulus of elasticity is termed flexible.
Based on construction material and load-transfer behavior, you can categorize pavements into three groups:
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Rigid: Cement concrete is the chief construction material for rigid pavements. Due to the rigidity associated with concrete, these pavements are...
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