Title: GUIDELINES FOR STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF LOW-VOLUME RURAL ROADS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Abstract: An extensive project was recently completed in South Africa under the auspices of the Department of Transport to develop guidelines on the standards for roads that carry up to 400 vehicles per day. These guidelines were developed because traditional standards could not be justified. The guidelines encompass all aspects of road design, construction, and maintenance. The aim of this paper is to present the structural designs and material quality guidelines that were developed. In the structural design, special attention is given to evaluating the existing unpaved road since the economic construction costs do not provide for major realignment. The in situ conditions, monitored with a dynamic cone penetrometer, provide the input to the structural design, which is in a catalog format. A catalog of pavement thickness designs was developed using sophisticated analysis techniques, such as elastoplastic modeling, to allow the use of materials that fall outside the traditional specifications. The main emphasis is on using the existing road without disturbing the traffic compaction that was applied over many years and on adding the minimum amount of material. Of special interest is the approach that was adopted for selecting the asphalt surfacing, which is based on expected performance and maintenance and life-cycle costs. This paper contains the state of the art in low-volume road pavement design in South Africa and these guidelines are considered a major step in economically extending quality service to sparsely populated rural areas. The guidelines should also be valuable to practitioners worldwide.
Publication Year: 1995
Publication Date: 1995-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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