5F-3

Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

Design Manual Chapter 5 Roadway Design 5F Pavement Thickness Design

5F-3 Rigid Pavement Design Nomograph

A. Rigid pavement design thickness nomograph
To determine the required slab thickness for rigid pavement Figure 2 presents the nomograph used for determining the rigid slab thickness. The thickness determined from the nomograph must be rounded to the nearest 1/2 inch increments. After determining the rigid slab thickness it must be compared to the minimum pavement thickness as required in Section 5C-2, U. The larger value must be used. A summary of the required inputs are as follows: 1. The design serviceability loss, PSI = Po-Pt (Section 5F-1, 1, a and b) 2. The estimated Traffic Equivalence Factors (W18) (Section 5F-1, 2, b) 3. The reliability, R (Section 5F-1, 2, c) 4. The overall standard deviation, So (Section 5F-1, 2, d) 5. The modulus of subgrade reaction, K or Kc (Section 5F-1, 3, b) 6. The concrete elastic modulus, Ec (Section 5F-1, 3, c) 7. The concrete modulus of rupture, S'c (Section 5F-1, 3, c) 8. The coefficient of drainage, Cd (Section 5F-1, 4, a) 9. The load transfer coefficient, J (Section 5F-1, 4, b)

B. Reinforced rigid pavement design nomograph

The nomograph for estimating the percent of steel reinforcement required in a jointed reinforced concrete pavement is presented in Figure 2. The inputs required include: 1. Slab length, L (Section 5F-1, 5, a) 2. Steel working stress, fs (Section 5F-1, 5, a) and 3. Friction factor, F (Section 5F-1, 5, a). This chart applies to the design of transverse and longitudinal steel reinforcement in jointed reinforced concrete pavement. Normally for joint spacing less than 15 feet, transverse cracking is not anticipated; thus, steel reinforcement would not be required.

Page Revised: 10/17/2006

Chapter 5 Roadway Design

Figure 1: Design chart for rigid pavement based on using mean values for each input variable (Segment 1) AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993

Page Revised: 10/17/2006

Section 5F-3 Rigid Pavement Design Nomograph

Figure 1 (Continued): Design chart for rigid pavements based on using mean values for each input variable (Segment 2) AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993

Page Revised: 10/17/2006

Chapter 5 Roadway Design

Figure 2: Reinforcement design chart for jointed reinforced concrete pavements AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993

Page Revised: 10/17/2006