The Causes and Remedies of Road Deterioration
Chapter One
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The following are the objectives of this study:
- To carry out tests to measure the soil’s physical properties, strength, and swelling characteristics on the road leading from Naze Junction to Futo Gate.
- To evaluate the cause of the deterioration of the road leading from Naze Junction to Futo Gate.
- To proffer a solution which will be suitable enough to prevent this road from deteriorating
- Finally suggest measures to help minimize or stop the occurrence of the deterioration of our Nigerian roads.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELEVANT LITERATURE
AN OVERVIEW OF ROAD DETERIORATION
Pavement deterioration is the process by which distresses develop in pavement under the combined effects of traffic loading and environmental conditions. Deterioration of pavement greatly affects serviceability, safety, and riding quality of the road. After construction, roads deteriorate with age as a result of use and therefore, they need to be maintained to ensure that the requirements for safety, efficiency and durability are satisfied. Normally, new paved roads deteriorate very slowly in the first ten to fifteen years of their life, and then go on to deteriorate much more rapidly unless timely maintenance is undertaken, Pavements are typically divided into the following three general categories: flexible, rigid and unpaved (gravel or dirt).
Flexible (Bituminous Pavements)
Flexible pavements are constructed of several layers of natural granular material covered with one or more waterproof bituminous surface layers, and as the name imply, is considered to be flexible. A flexible pavement will flex (bend) under the load of a tyre. The objective with the design of a flexible pavement is to avoid the excessive flexing of any layer, failure to achieve this will result in the over stressing of a layer, which ultimately will cause the pavement to fail. In flexible pavements, the load distribution pattern changes from one layer to another, because the strength of each layer is different. The strongest material (least flexible) is in the top layer and the weakest material (most flexible) is in the lowest layer. The reason for this is that at the surface the wheel load is applied to a small area, the result is high stress levels, deeper down in the pavement, the wheel load is applied to larger area, the result is lower stress levels thus enabling the use of weaker materials.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
In this chapter, we would describe how the study was carried out.
Research design
The investigation consisted of field survey of road surface distresses and laboratory investigation. The visual field inspection was carried out on the existing pavement of failed sections. The laboratory investigation was conducted to determine the materials characteristics of the pavement layers.
Research settings
The Naze Junction to Futo Gate Road in Imo state, was selected for study:. These roads are located in a crowded area of Imo state. The roads have been subjected to rehabilitation several times within the years and still severing significant distresses and fast deterioration.
Sources of Data
The data for this study were generated from two main sources; Primary sources and secondary sources. The primary sources include questionnaire, interviews and observation. The secondary sources include journals, bulletins, textbooks and the internet.
Case Study
The current investigation was carried out in Imo state, FUTO precisely. These roads have exhibited pavement deterioration and failures occurred shortly after their last rehabilitation.
The projects were investigated to identify sources and reasons of pavement deterioration and other problems that have led to premature failures. For the study purpose, it is required to evaluate design, construction, and materials properties. The sections below provide brief summaries of the investigation methodology followed in order to achieve the research objective.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
INTRODUCTION
The results of the experiments carried out for measuring the basic properties of the six samples of soils and asphalt concrete are presented in this chapter.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter dealt with the summary of the study and conclusion.
SUMMARY
This study aimed at having a critical analysis and an overview On Road deterioration. The study opened with chapter one where the statement of the problem was clearly defined. The study objectives and research hypotheses were defined and formulated respectively. The study reviewed related and relevant literatures. The chapter two gave the conceptual framework, empirical and theoretical studies. The third chapter described the methodology employed by the researcher in collecting both the primary and the secondary data. Chapter four was used to present and analyse our data, while the fifth and final chapter provides the summary and conclusions of the study.
CONCLUSIONS
This study has been undertaken to investigate the causes for pavement deterioration. The results and the conclusions drawn as follows:
- Road deterioration is an issue of vital concern to road authorities because of the high cost for rehabilitation of existing roads.
- Pavements deteriorate under traffic loads and climate effects. This fact, together with the weak subgrade soil and poor drainage system, could be major causes of the road’s fast deterioration in Sudan.
- It was pointed out that understanding the causes of pavement deterioration will significantly contribute to the proper selection of effective maintenance technique results in prolonged service life of roads and significant savings for the government.
- The experience of the investigator is an important factor in correctly diagnosing the pavement failure cause and determining the best rehabilitation treatment.
REFERENCES
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- Okigbo, “Road maintenance in Nigeria, the way forward,” International journal of research in engineering science, Pan African journal series, Accra, Ghana, 2012.
- S. Harischandra, Identification of road defects, causes of road deterioration and relationship among them for bitumen penetration macadam roads in Sri Lanka. Master Thesis at The University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2004.
- Croney, and D. Croney, The Design and Performance of Road Pavements. New York City: McGraw-Hill Professional, 1998.
- G. Omer, A. M. Elsharief and A. E. Mohamed, “Failure Investigation for Recently Constructed Road in Khartoum State,” Journal of Geological Resource and Engineering 2, David Publishing Press, 2014, pp 20-31.
- M. Oguara, A management model for road infrastructure maintenance. Book of proceedings, 19th engineering assembly, Council for the regulation of engineering in Nigeria, 2010.
- Sargious, Pavement and Surfacing for Highways and Airports. London: Applied Science Publishers Ltd, 1975.
- Y. Wee, R. B. Chan, and H. W. Teo, “Potential modeling of pavement deterioration rate due to cracking,” UNIMAS E-Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol 1, issue 1, August 2009.
