Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material

Climate, groundwater level, permeability and drainage conditions play a key role in the determination of the design moisture content of base course material in pavement design. Most of Western Australia (WA) has an arid or semi-arid climate. Therefore, moisture content close to the Optimum Moisture...

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Main Authors: Rezagholilou, Alireza, Nikraz, Hamid, Leek, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27918
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author Rezagholilou, Alireza
Nikraz, Hamid
Leek, C.
author_facet Rezagholilou, Alireza
Nikraz, Hamid
Leek, C.
author_sort Rezagholilou, Alireza
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Climate, groundwater level, permeability and drainage conditions play a key role in the determination of the design moisture content of base course material in pavement design. Most of Western Australia (WA) has an arid or semi-arid climate. Therefore, moisture content close to the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) is usually used for the Design Moisture Content (DMC) for sealed roads. In fact, moisture content is unlikely to be constant due to water penetration from surface failures or unusual water precipitation. Thus the material should have suitable drainability to be able to dissipate possible excess moisture content. The natural material for base course in WA can have a relatively high percentage of cohesive fines content (fraction smaller than 0.075 mm size) that limits drainability. In order to improve estimations of DMC, this paper presents a review of the drainability potential concept and its empirical estimation method. This is followed by the development of an analytical method of drainability potential estimation. The results of the drainability potential using the two methods, applied to common base course materials, are compared with their corresponding design moisture content, as required by material specifications in WA. This comparison provides information to allow a more accurate determination of DMC for the base course material.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-279182017-01-30T13:01:56Z Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material Rezagholilou, Alireza Nikraz, Hamid Leek, C. Climate, groundwater level, permeability and drainage conditions play a key role in the determination of the design moisture content of base course material in pavement design. Most of Western Australia (WA) has an arid or semi-arid climate. Therefore, moisture content close to the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) is usually used for the Design Moisture Content (DMC) for sealed roads. In fact, moisture content is unlikely to be constant due to water penetration from surface failures or unusual water precipitation. Thus the material should have suitable drainability to be able to dissipate possible excess moisture content. The natural material for base course in WA can have a relatively high percentage of cohesive fines content (fraction smaller than 0.075 mm size) that limits drainability. In order to improve estimations of DMC, this paper presents a review of the drainability potential concept and its empirical estimation method. This is followed by the development of an analytical method of drainability potential estimation. The results of the drainability potential using the two methods, applied to common base course materials, are compared with their corresponding design moisture content, as required by material specifications in WA. This comparison provides information to allow a more accurate determination of DMC for the base course material. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27918 restricted
spellingShingle Rezagholilou, Alireza
Nikraz, Hamid
Leek, C.
Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title_full Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title_fullStr Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title_full_unstemmed Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title_short Estimation of Drainability and its Effect on the Design Moisture Content of Base Course Material
title_sort estimation of drainability and its effect on the design moisture content of base course material
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/27918