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A highway pavement is a structure consisting of superimposed layers of
processed materials above the natural soil sub-grade, whose primary function is
to distribute the applied vehicle loads to the sub-grade.
The pavement structure should be able to provide a surface of acceptable riding
quality, adequate skid resistance, favorable light reflecting characteristics,
and low noise pollution.
The ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted stresses due to wheel load
are sufficiently reduced, so that they will not exceed bearing capacity of the
sub-grade.
Two types of pavements are generally recognized as serving this purpose, namely
flexible pavements and rigid pavements.
This chapter gives an overview of pavement types, layers, and their functions,
and pavement failures.
Improper design of pavements leads to early failure of pavements affecting the
riding quality.
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