Condition Survey for Evaluation of Pavement Condition Index of a Highway

Pavements are major means of highway infrastructure. Maintenance and rehabilitation of these pavements for the required serviceability is a routine problem faced by highway engineers and organizations. Improvement in road management system results in reduction of time and cost, the pavement condition survey plays a big role in the pavement management. The initial phase in setting up a pavement management system (PMS) is road network identification. A vital element of a PMS is the capacity to assess the present condition of a pavement network and anticipation of future condition. The pavement condition index (PCI) is a numerical index generally utilized for the assessment of the operational condition & structural reliability of pavements. Estimation of the PCI is dependent on the results of a visual inspection in which the type, severity, and quantity of distresses are distinguished. In this research, a pavement distress condition rating strategy was utilized to accomplish the goals of this study. The main targets of this research were to categorize the common types of distress that exist on “Lakhi Larkana National Highway (N-105)”, and to estimate the pavement condition index. Using these data, Average PCI for the highway section was calculated. PCI to assess the pavement performance, 10 out of 19 defects were recognized in the pavement, as stated by the PCI method. Results indicated that the common pavement distress types were depressions, polished aggregate, rutting, potholes, block cracking, and alligator cracking

Influence of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag on the Index, Compaction Parameters and Mechanical Strength of Khairpur Mir’s Natural Soil

In developing countries like Pakistan, Due to rapid growth and population, an increase in the production of industrial waste is rising significantly day by day. Stabilization of soil using those industrial wastes not only gives proper usage of waste materials but also increases the cost-benefit ratio as a whole. In this research work, an attempt was made to use Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) in the stabilization of District Khairpur Mirs’ soil. Generally, while dealing with building construction industry such as foundations for buildings, highways such as subgrades as a foundation and in earthen dams as landfills sometimes there exist naturally occurring unsuitable soils. District Khairpur Mirs’ soil is accounted for the different laboratory tests and the concerned District Khairpur Mirs’ soil found to be relatively unsuitable; therefore, various percentages of ground granulated blast furnace slag were added to make it suitable. To improve the concerned soil different percentages of slag are used, and samples thus formed so for were tested in the laboratory for this research work. Various laboratorial tests like particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, Modified Proctor test, AASHTO soil classification, and CBR test were performed on controlled and stabilized soil samples. The aim of this research study was to examine the influence of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS) on the index, Compaction and mechanical strength parameters of natural Khairpur Mirs’ soil. Finally, based on laboratorial tests, it was observed that stabilization of soil by GGBFS made favourable changes on the index, compaction and strength parameters of District Khairpur Mirs’ soil

Effect on the Compressive Strength of Mortars Using Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag as a Partial Replacement of Cement

Mortar is widely used in the construction industry for different purposes. Its compressive strength is the main parameter which is brought under focus. Compressive strength of mortars depends upon many factors such as water-cement ratio, fine aggregates size, and different curing conditions. This experimental study was undertaken to investigate the effect of GGBFS on compressive strength of mortars under different curing regimes using GGBFS as a partial replacement of cement. A total of 60 cubes of standard size of 2 x 2 x 2 inches were casted in laboratory, out of which 12 cubes each were prepared with 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% GGBFS replacement for cement. Cubes were cured for 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. Bases on obtained results it is observed that the maximum compressive strength was achieved by sample with 5% GGBFS, although 10% GGBFS samples achieved higher compressive strength than the control sample with 0% GGBFS. Further replacement beyond this value causes reduction in strength

Fatigue and Rutting Analysis of Asphaltic Pavement Using “KENLAYER” Software

Rutting and Fatigue are taken as main premature failures among all distresses, as these distresses have wide effect on performance of pavement. Sudden variation of heavy axle loaded vehicles, improper mix design and traditional design methodologies used in pavement design industries are major factors behind these failures. For proper performance and good serviceability, these premature distresses should be resisted. Thus, there is a need of using a Mechanistic based design methodology like KENPAVE software, so that traditional design errors should be overcome. KENLAYER is a part of KENPAVE software. KENLYER software tool is utilized to calculated accurately stresses and strains in asphaltic pavement that are ultimately used in calculating allowance for rutting and fatigue failure utilizing Asphalt Institute design models or formulas. Resistance to Rutting failure is checked by calculating vertical compressive stress at the top of soil sub-grade layer, while resistance to fatigue failure is checked by calculating horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of asphaltic layer using KENLAYER software tool. Thus, the object of this research study is to analyze a flexible pavement with respect to rutting and fatigue distresses using KENLAYER software tool. For achieving that objective NHA (N-55) section of road in Sehwan Pakistan was taken as a reference pavement. Pavement was analyzed by altering the thicknesses of bituminous courses by ± 25 percent. From that we obtained total 20 cross-sections to be analyzed using KENLAYER software in terms of Rutting and Fatigue premature failures

Development of thermal insulating lightweight foamed concrete reinforced with polypropylene fibres

The construction of concentrated infrastructures due to rapid urbanization has given rise to urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon which causes temperature of urban areas to significantly increase compared to its adjacent cooler rural areas. The absorption of heat in the form of solar radiation by infrastructures is the main contributor to UHI, which results in the rise in the ambient temperature at night. This has forced the construction industry to focus on thermal insulating building materials such as foamed concrete. Air voids in the matrix of foamed concrete allow it to reduce the thermal conductivity and dry density; however, due to its reduced density, foamed concrete is prone to microcracking which results in loss of strength. To counteract the development and propagation of microcracks, polypropylene (PP) fibres are used to reinforce the foamed concrete. Therefore, in this study, foamed concrete of density 1600 kg/m3 was reinforced using PP fibres in three percentages, 0.20%, 0.25% and 0.30%. Thermal performance, in terms of thermal conductivity and surface temperature, was conducted as well as the compressive and tensile strength was determined. It was observed that the PP fibres not only enhanced the strength but also significantly lowered the thermal conductivity and absorbed less heat