Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No.

3, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14525/JJCE.v17i3.02

Assessment and Prioritization of Highway Stretch Deploying

Functional and Structural Characteristics

Aditya Mantripragada1), Ramesh Adepu2)*, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi 3) and Harinder Devavath4)
1)
PG Scholar, Dept. of Civil Engineering, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad, India.
2)
Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad, India. * Corresponding Author.
3)
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology, Hyderabad,
Telangana, India.
4)
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology,
Hyderabad, India.

ABSTRACT
Asphalt pavements deteriorate over time when subjected to fatigue; hence, it is critical to evaluate in-service
pavements to keep them in good condition. The goal of pavement evaluation is to assess the functional and
structural performance of a pavement section, with a view to improving both the pavement's serviceability and
riding quality. Through field and laboratory experiments, the current study attempts to evaluate the performance
of pavement stretches. The sections are ranked and prioritized based on the test results. Medchal-Dabilpur
national highway was evaluated for pavement roughness, skid resistance and deflections. In addition, core
samples with diameters of 100mm and 150mm were collected and tested in the laboratory for moisture
susceptibility, tensile strength, stiffness and fracture characteristics. The current study also intends to establish
a unique technique for prioritizing pavement maintenance sections based on functional and structural
performance in the field and laboratory. The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) approach was used to develop
the relationship between pavement functional and structural performance. Heat maps were created and ranked
in Python Jupyter notebook to better visualize the performance of functional and structural characteristics of
the pavement. The final evaluation results can be validated by supporting them with laboratory investigations
based on the pavement-section field samples. The results demonstrate that there is a strong relationship between
the structural and functional properties of the pavement. The developed Maintenance Priority Index (MPI) will
be useful in rating the maintenance and rehabilitation actions depending on the level of necessity.

KEYWORDS: Functional and structural evaluation, Resilient modulus, Tensile strength ratio,
Fracture properties, ANN technique, Maintenance priority index.

INTRODUCTION has improved. Pavement structures are built to last for

their design period, which is referred to as the service
India has the world's second-largest road network, life. However, it is also noticed that some pavements
reaching 5.89 million kilometers (km) and the road may not last for their design period due to failures.
network transports 64.5% of all commodities and 90% Pavement failures may happen due to various reasons,
of all passenger traffic in the country (NHAI). like increased traffic, pavement materials, temperature,
Furthermore, it has been observed that road traffic has … etc. Failures can be reduced to an extent with proper
gradually increased over the years as connectivity timely maintenance by addressing the above issues.
between cities, towns and villages around the country Routine maintenance can improve the in-service life
with regular monitoring and proper measures for
Received on 25/9/2022. improved performance. Light-weight deflectometer
Accepted for Publication on 10/3/2023.
(LWD) and Benkelman Beam Deflection (BBD)

- 382 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

techniques were adopted to evaluate sub-grade moduli pavement performance. Raunak et al. introduced an
in low-volume roads. The results revealed that the light- innovative approach for prioritizing pavement
weight deflectometer method of testing shall be used as maintenance sections by developing a correlation
a rapid tool for the strong determination of pavement between functional and structural performances using an
sub-grade materials (Gazzarlapudi et al., 2016). Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The results showed
Rusmanto et al. (2018) conducted a study to examine the that there is a strong relationship between the structural
functional and structural conditions of flexible and functional characteristics of pavements. Majed et al.
pavements. The study results revealed that overlay used a British pendulum skid tester to measure the skid
thickness is required for the improvement of pavement resistance of nearly all highways in Jordan to develop
serviceability. Sanjay et al. (2022) evaluated the the maintenance management system for roads in Jordan
structural conditions of pavement using light-weight and the survey results revealed that 66% of the tested
deflectometer (LWD) and Benkelman Beam Deflection roads had skid resistance levels that were below the
(BBD) processes, where correlations were developed for minimum acceptable levels. So, it is advised that serious
deflection measurements using both instruments actions and maintenance plans be taken to improve the
exhibiting a strong relationship. Subramanyam et al. roads. Issa et al. (2022) used Artificial Neural Networks
(2017) evaluated pavements using destructive and non- (ANNs) to predict the pavement condition index (PCI)
destructive methods. The results showed that the values of the various sections and model the
pavement is in fair condition and due to high relationships between distress type and severity and
characteristic deflection, an overlay is required. Gunde PCI. The results showed a low correlation between
et al. (2022) evaluated the pavement surface modulus in distress and PCI and that the ANN model is capable of
the field using an Indigenous Light-weight predicting the PCI values with a high level of reliability.
Deflectometer (ILWD) and Dynamic Cone The majority of the studies have attempted to understand
Penetrometer (DCP). The results of the field and the structural capacity of pavements through field
laboratory tests showed that the calculated elastic experiments. However, in this study, an attempt is made
modulus and stiffness characteristics are close to each to examine the correlations between functional and
other for the layer moduli of the pavement layers. structural performances and laboratory investigation for
Mooney et al. (2009) have investigated the stress-strain the development of sectional priority.
response within the soil using light-weight
deflectometer (LWD) testing. Kuttah (2021) conducted Objectives of the Study
field studies using light-weight deflectometer (LWD) The current study aims to forecast the field
and compared the measured field modulus values with performance of pavement sections, in order to prioritize
the resilient modulus values measured by repeated-load pavement maintenance. The objectives of the work
tests (RLTs) carried out under similar testing conditions include to investigate the functional and structural
in the laboratory. The study concluded that the LWD test conditions of the pavement, estimate the mechanical-
can be used to predict the resilient behavior of unbound fracture properties of filed core samples in the laboratory
pavement layers. Reddy et al. (2022) investigated and assess the functional and structural characteristics
fracture properties for modified mixes, where the through Artificial Neural Network (ANN) techniques
fracture resistance and index were improved when for maintenance priority and rank them accordingly.
compared to control mixes at intermediate temperatures.
According to this study, fracture properties are Methodology
necessary to evaluate the performance of mixtures. The methodology adopted for this study is
Ramesh et al. (2022) investigated the fracture summarized in the following flowchart (Fig. 1). It
characteristics of Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) describes the field and laboratory investigations that are
and Bituminous Concrete (BC) mixes with modified conducted as a part of this study.
binders and compared them with control mixes for

- 383 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

Figure (1): Schematic flowchart of the methodology adopted for this study

Experimental Program the pavement evaluation process, the entire study stretch
Selection of Study Area of pavement was divided into eight (8) equal portions
This study was carried out on NH – 44 (National with a 1km interval. The existing flexible pavement has
Highway) Medchal to Dabilpur stretch, as shown in Fig. four lanes, each 3.5m wide and a paved shoulder. The
2. The study road chainage begins at 463+000km in median width is 1.5m, while the width of the paved and
Dabilpur and ends at 471+000km in Medchal. During earthen shoulders ranges from 2.5m to 3.0m.

Dabilpur to
Medchal, 8 km
stretch (Nagpur
Project Road
-Hyderabad

Figure (2): Study stretch from Dabilpur to Medchal (463+000 km to 471+000km)

Functional Evaluation roughness are the primary functional evaluation

A functional evaluation consists of an assessment of characteristics assessed during the investigation.
pavement features that directly influence the safety and
comfort of road users. Skid resistance and road

- 384 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

Skid Resistance Study SN = 3.2 DEF−0.6 (Base is not cemented) (2)

Road users and engineers are primarily concerned
with the safe passage of vehicles, as slippery pavements Indigenous Light-weight Deflectometer (ILWD)
have been responsible for road crashes. British The ILWD is a portable device used to measure the
Pendulum Tester was used to conduct the skid resistance deflection of unpaved surfaces and thin asphalt layers.
test on the selected stretch from Dabilpur to Medchal The apparatus was developed in the laboratory (Gunde
(463+000km to 471+000km) in both the left-hand side et al., 2022) and was used in the study for pavement
(LHS) section and the right-hand side (RHS) section. evaluation. The ILWD equipment has unique
The test was carried out in accordance with Indian Road characteristics, such as a trigger assembly for the release
Congress (IRC):82-2015. mechanism (20 to 25 kg of mass drop) and a base
cylinder with a load-cell arrangement on top and a
Roughness Measurements fixture arrangement for fitting the central geophone on
Pavement roughness is commonly described as an the bottom. Above the load cell, a rubber buffer is
indication of irregularities on the pavement surface that fabricated and fitted to give an impulse load with a load
degrade the road's ride quality. The longitudinal pulse rate time range of 15- 40ms. The base plate's
unevenness of the road surface is defined as roughness. diameter spans from 150 to 350 mm. The dynamic
The roughness data was obtained using the machine for deformation modulus of unbound and thin asphalt
evaluating roughness using low-cost instrumentation pavement layers must be calculated using the observed
(MERLIN) equipment, developed by Transport and deflection at the center of the plate and radial. The
Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) and commonly used instrument was designed and developed in accordance
for the measurement of road roughness (IRC: SP 16, with ASTM E2583-07 (2015). Structural number (SN)
2019). is a well-known pavement index that is calculated as the
product of structural layer coefficients and layer
Structural Evaluation thicknesses. The AASHTO 1993 formula is used to
Pavement structural evaluation is a measure of the compute the Effective Structural Number (SNeff) as
structural adequacy of the pavement. Non-destructive follows:
testing is commonly used for the assessment of
structural capacity. LWD, BBD and falling-weight SNeff = 0.0045 D∛𝐸𝐸𝑝𝑝 (3)
deflectometer are used as commonly used for pavement
investigation. where D is the overall thickness of the pavement
system above the sub-grade level in inches and Ep
Benkelman Beam Deflection Test represents the effective modulus of the pavement layers
This instrument is used to calculate the pavement's above the sub-grade in pounds per square inch.
rebound deflection induced by the wheel load as
outlined in IRC: 81-1997. The characteristic deflection Collection of Pavement core samples
values are used to design the overlay thickness. The Pavement core samples were collected at various
structural number (SN) is an index that indicates both points throughout the study stretch. The core locations
the thickness of the pavement layers and the overall were distributed at random along the section's length and
structure of the pavement. The deflections were breadth. For each core, the in-place layer thicknesses,
measured in the field with BBD equipment and data the ASTM D 6931 indirect tensile (IDT) test, ASTM
shall be also used to determine the SN of the pavement D4123, ASTM D 7369-20 resilient modulus and
sections. The formulae for computing SN using fracture properties as described in ASTM 8044-16 were
characteristic deflection (DEF) measurements are all examined in the laboratory.
presented in Equations (1) and (2).
Laboratory Investigations
SN = 2.2 DEF−0.63 (Base is cemented) (1) Soon after the surface-deflection measurements, test
trenches were dug to gather soil samples.

- 385 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

Soil samples were collected at every 1-kilometer Repeated-load Cyclic Test

interval in both directions. Laboratory tests were The resilient modulus is a ratio of applied vertical
conducted in accordance with Indian Standards to stress to that of recoverable axial strain and the test
evaluate conventional index and volumetric process is shown in Fig.3(a). A cylindrical specimen is
characteristics, such as liquid limit, plastic limit, average subjected to a repetitive axial load with a half-sinusoidal
dry density and average moisture content. CBR testing waveform for seconds at 35oC. The applied load is the
was also performed on soil samples collected from all average of the cycle's sinusoidal wave peaks. The
test locations. horizontal and vertical deflections are measured using a
Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT) on
Indirect Tensile Strength Test (IDT) either side of the specimen. The total resilient modulus
The crack resistance of bituminous pavement is computed using recoverable deformation, which is the
material shall be determined using indirect tensile sum of instantaneous and time-dependent continuous
strength test. Equation (4) is used to determine the recoverable deformation throughout the unload or test
tensile strength of pavement core samples. The tensile phase of one cycle. The test was carried out in
strength ratio (TSR) compares the tensile strength of a accordance with ASTM D 7369-20. The resilient
conditioned specimen to that of a controlled dry modulus is calculated using Equation 5.
specimen. The experiment was conducted in line with
ASTM D 6931-07. MR=P(0.27+𝜇𝜇)/t*∆ℎ (5)

IDT=2P/πdt (4) where MR= resilient modulus, P= maximum load in

N, 𝜇𝜇=Poisson’s ratio, T=thickness of sample in mm and
where P= max. load, d=diameter of the sample and ∆h= deflection in mm.
t=thickness of the sample.

(a) Resilient modulus test setup (b) Semi-circular bending test setup

Figure (3): Laboratory investigations of pavement core samples collected from the study location

Asphalt mixes cracking resistance is determined the asphalt-mixture fracture resistance in terms of (i)
using the semi-circular bending test as presented in fracture toughness (K), (ii) fracture energy (G), (iii)
Fig.3(b). The fracture-mechanics technique is used to flexibility index, (iv) cracking resistance index (CRI)
characterize the initiation and progression of fractures in and (v) critical-strain energy release. The test was
asphalt mixtures. The specimen is loaded with performed in accordance with ASTM D 8044-16. The
0.5mm/min load-point displacement, with 5mm and equations provided below in Table 1 were used to
10mm notch lengths being examined. This test evaluates compute fracture characteristics.

- 386 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

Table 1. Fracture parameters

Fracture energy (Gf) Gf = W0+mgδ0/Alig (6)

where W0 = fracture work area under the load-displacement curve, m
= mass (negligible because small samples are used), g=gravitational
acceleration, δ = deformation, Alig =ligament area = t(r-c), t =
thickness, r = radius and c = notch length of SCB specimen.
Flexibility index (FI) FI=0.01(Fracture energy/Post peak slope at inflection point) (7)

Fracture toughness (K) K=𝝈𝝈 *Y1 (sqrt (𝝅𝝅 *a) (8)

σ=stress at failure N/mm =Pmax/2rt
Pmax − maximum load at failure in (N)
Y1 - geometric factor equal to 4.782 – 1.219 c/r + c/r * 0.063 e7.045
where r – specimen radius (mm), c – notch length (mm), t = thickness
of sample (mm).
Stress intensity factor YI(t/d) = YI (100/150) = YI (0.66)
YI (0.66) = 4.782+1.219(c/r) +0.063e^(7.045*c/r) (9)
where c-notch length and r-radius of specimen.

Crack resistance index (CRI) CRI=Gf/Pmax (10)

Gf - fracture energy in J/m2 and Pmax − maximum load at failure in
(N).
Critical strain energy release rate For two notch lengths:
(J integral) Jc = (A1/t1-A2/t2) *1/a2-a1 (11)
A1, A2 = area under curve up to maximum load Pmax, a1, a2 = initial
notch lengths and
t1, t2 = thicknesses of samples.

Model of Maintenance Management determined using IRC 81-(1997) and the maximum
The project's primary goal is to develop a traffic value was 100 million standard axles (MSA).
maintenance management plan based on the structural IRC: SP 16-2019 stipulates that the maximum permitted
and functional attributes. ANN technique was adopted roughness value is 2.55 m/km. The maintenance priority
along with pavement functional and structural index (MPI) and road-condition index (RCI) are
characteristics; the SN of the pavement was determined. calculated using Equations 14 and 15.
Equations 12 and 13 were used to calculate the
deflection index and roughness index. RCI = Roughness index + Deflection index (14)

Deflection Index= (Predicted Deflection/Maximum Maintenance Priority Index = RCI*Traffic Factor (15)
Permissible Deflection) X 5 (12)
According to IRC SP: 72 (2015), Equivalent
Roughness Index = (Present Roughness/Maximum Standard Axle Load (ESAL) was computed for the
Allowable Roughness) X 5 (13) design life of the roads using current traffic data. The
traffic factor was estimated using the total number of
The MERLIN International Roughness Index values ESAL applications. The total number of ESAL
are used to measure roughness, while the deflection applications from Dabilpur to Medchal is 998196. For
values of the ANN approach are used to predict all ESAL applications combined, the traffic factor is
deflection. The maximum allowed deflection value was 7(seven). The ESAL applications value from Medchal

- 387 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

to Dabilpur is 1076777 with a traffic factor of 8(eight). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Prioritizing road sections for maintenance and repairs
was done using the MPI parameter. A high MPI number Traffic Volume Count
denotes that a particular stretch of road needs additional During 16th to 18th February, 2022, a comprehensive
maintenance. three-day traffic volume count from Medchal to
Dabilpur was conducted and the video data was
Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Approach recorded. The traffic volume from Medchal to Dabilpur
direction is approximately 34659 vehicles per day (Vpd)
The Artificial Neural Network (ANN) technique was and from Dablipur to Medchal direction is 33595 Vpd.
employed in this study owing to its beneficial properties, The peak hours were observed from 9 AM to 10 AM
including its capacity to learn and model complex, non- (5874Vpd) in the morning and from 5 PM to 6 PM in the
linear connections as well as its ease of use. The evening.
Multilayer Feed Forward Neural Network (MFNN) is
the most prevalent variety of ANN. The approach takes Functional Characteristics Results
into account the input, hidden and output kinds of linked Functional evaluation is carried out in two ways viz.
neuron layers. Levenberg-Marquardt method is the most skid resistance and roughness. The calculations are
used training method and the error is assessed in terms performed in accordance with the Indian Road Congress
of the Mean Square Error (MSE). (IRC) standards and the results are presented in Fig. 4.

Figure (4): Comparison graphs of skid-resistance data and IRI data in both directions

According to the skid-resistance statistics, the pavement increases due to marginally changes in
majority of the sections studied for the research are pavement-surface roughness. This is caused by the
suitable for high occupancy vehicle travel against vehicle polishing the attached asphalt binder and
frictional characteristics on dry and wet pavements, aggregates at the surface and the polished aggregates’
while frequent monitoring is required in oil conditions. surface. The evolution of skid resistance is often
The average International Roughness Index (IRI) values characterized by an initial increase in friction
for the selected stretch in both directions is 1.55 m/km coefficient, which happens after the laying of the road
and 1.57 m/km, which are less than 1.8 mm/km surface and due to vehicular traffic actions. Each
according to IRC SP:16-2019 and IRC 82-2015, aggregate is more exposed to tyre contact, resulting in
indicating that the pavement is in good condition. From increased skid resistance. This is referred to as the
Fig. 4, it is observed that the skid resistance of asphalt "early-life skid resistance" phase.

- 388 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

Structural Characteristics Results laboratory, moisture content, density and California

Non-destructive testing methods, such as deflection Bearing Ratio (CBR) values were also measured. This
studies, were employed in the field to evaluate structural data was utilized to compute characteristic deflection
properties. Soil properties were also required and (CD) and the results are depicted in Figure 5(a) & Figure
samples were gathered in both directions. In the 5(b).

Figure (5): (a) Soil properties on study stretches

Figure (5): (b) Characteristic deflection and dynamic deformation modulus derived by LWD test

Pavement Core Samples’ Evaluation from in the laboratory. Moisture sensitivity, resilient
Laboratory Investigations modulus, indirect tensile strength (IDT) and tensile
In the present study, to characterize the mixes, core strength ratio (TSR) were determined for various study
samples were collected from the field and were analyzed sections as presented in Figure 6.

- 389 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

Figure (6): Comparison of ITS, TSR and resilient modulus in both directions

Similarly, field samples of 150 diameters were cut in obtained at four chain ages for 5-mm and 10-mm notch
half and used to assess fracture properties using a semi- depths, as presented in Fig.7.
circular bending test. Load-displacement curves were

(a) Peak load ( b) Fracture energy

(c)Fracture toughness (d) Critical strain energy release rate

Figure (7): Fracture properties for different samples in both directions

- 390 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

Correlation between Functional and Structural degrees, maximum dry density of the soil sub-grade
Characteristics Using ANN (MDD) in g/cc and International Roughness Index (IRI)
A novel method for evaluating the relationship from MERLIN were the independent variables in this
between functional and structural performances of study. The structural number calculated from the BBD
asphalt pavements was developed. Skid number (SN), and LWD deflections was the dependent variable.
CBR value (CBR), pavement temperature (Temp) in

Table 2. Consolidated data used for correlation (Medchal to Dabilpur direction)

Road IRI Dry Water Oil Pavement MDD BBD LWD

Sections (m/km) SKD SKD SKD Temp(°C) (g/cc) SN SN
471 1.55 49 43 37 40.90 1.96 4.37 4.29
470 1.57 44 42 39 40.95 1.88 4.09 4.07
469 1.6 47 45 42 40.26 2.04 4.64 4.57
468 1.61 45 42 39 37.70 2.00 4.89 4.75
467 1.57 45 43 31 37.50 2.06 4.22 4.18
466 1.52 46 44 42 37.65 1.98 4.77 4.67
465 1.51 43 44 42 37.70 1.79 4.15 4.05
464 1.49 43 37 30 38.30 1.88 4.04 4.02
463 1.53 47 43 41 36.59 1.98 4.29 4.45

Table 3. Consolidated data used for correlation (Dabilpur to Medchal direction

Road IRI Dry Water Oil Pavement MDD BBD LWD

Sections (m/km) SKD SKD SKD Temp(°C) (g/cc) SN SN
463 1.57 43 37 30 38.57 1.98 5.13 4.93
464 1.54 39 36 33 38.98 1.88 4.66 4.56
465 1.5 47 44 40 39.48 1.79 4.71 4.64
466 1.57 46 44 42 38.43 1.98 4.09 3.68
467 1.55 36 34 32 29.50 2.06 4.31 4.17
468 1.74 44 41 37 30.00 2.00 4.85 4.74
469 1.53 47 45 42 30.20 2.04 3.94 3.48
470 1.51 44 40 39 30.28 1.88 4.48 4.24
471 1.63 45 42 40 36.59 1.96 4.24 4.09
where SKD = skid number, SN= structural number and MDD=maximum dry density.

The statistics presented in Table 2 and Table 3 test.

demonstrate that the structural assessment performed The AASHTO 1993 formula is used to determine the
with the Benkelman beam method is more critical than LWD Effective Structural Number (SNeff). The
the one performed with the LWD, because the equation is based on the modulus of the pavement layer
deflections achieved with the Benkelman beam method and is computed using the central deflection values
are marginally higher and the SN computed for the BBD obtained from the LWD test. The structural number is
is slightly higher than the SN calculated by the LWD attributed to the strength of the pavement and because

- 391 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

the pavement is good, the SN values obtained by both perceptron (MLP) ANN architecture employed in this
instruments are marginally close. work. The characters h1, h2, hi... h25 represent the 25
hidden neurons. Based on the output obtained by the
ANN, Figure 9(a) and Figure 9(b) depict the regression
charts for the training, validation, test and total sample
phases based on the ANN output.
The network was simulated using a new set of values
for each independent variable. As output, the structural
numbers of this set were determined. The relationship
between the measured deflection value from the field
and the expected deflection value from the ANN model
is depicted in Figure 9(b). For all directions, the R2-
values were 0.90 and 0.88 for observed deflection values
and projected deflection values from the ANN model.
As a result of the numerical application, it is concluded
that the ANN may be efficiently used as a powerful tool
Figure (8): MLP - ANN architecture for forecasting deflection performance using various
used in this Study pavement properties. Regression charts show that there
is a strong correlation between functional and structural
The ANN model uses the above consolidated data as characteristics of the pavement.
input. Fig. 8 depicts the structure of the multi-layer

Figure (9): (a) Regression charts for Medchal to Dabilpur sections

- 392 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

Figure (9): (b) Observed deflection in field and ANN predicted deflection (both directions)

Table 4. Maintenance priority index for Medchal to Dabilpur (471+000 km to 463+000km)

Road Deflection Roughness Road Condition Maintenance Priority Priority for

Sections Index (DI) Index (RI) Index (RCI) Index (MPI) Road Sections
471 3.069 3.039 6.108 48.863 6
470 3.447 3.078 6.525 52.201 3
469 3.468 3.137 6.606 52.844 2
468 2.982 2.922 5.903 47.226 8
467 3.303 3.078 6.382 51.055 5
466 3.488 2.980 6.468 51.746 4
465 2.841 2.961 5.802 46.418 9
464 4.088 3.157 7.245 57.962 1
463 3.072 3.000 6.072 48.576 7

Table 5. Maintenance priority index for Dabilpur to Medchal (463+000 km to 471+000km)

Road Deflection Roughness Road Condition Maintenance Priority Priority for Road
Sections Index (DI) Index (RI) Index (RCI) Index (MPI) Sections
463 2.603 2.941 5.544 44.355 9
464 2.836 3.020 5.856 46.846 8
465 2.927 3.048 6.005 48.043 6
466 4.665 3.078 7.743 61.947 1
467 3.368 3.039 6.407 51.256 5
468 3.106 3.412 6.517 52.139 4
469 4.227 3.000 7.227 57.813 2
470 2.988 2.961 5.949 47.591 7
471 3.591 3.196 6.787 54.296 3

- 393 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

Pavement-maintenance managers can prioritize road Ranking of Functional and Structural

sections for repair work based on MPI.A high MPI Characteristics
rating implies that a certain section of the road needs Heatmaps were developed to represent the
extra care. However, regardless of MPI, remedial performance ranking of the pavement using Python
measures should be undertaken as quickly as feasible if Jupyter Notebook. The ranking of structural and
a route has a DI or RI value greater than 4. Tables 4 and functional parameters is presented in Figure 10.
5 summarize MPI values for the study sections.

a) LHS section b) RHS section

Figure (10): Heat maps for functional and structural parameters on LHS and RHS sections

Tensile strength, TSR, resilient modulus and fracture sections as presented in Figures 11 and 12, where a
characteristics of the pavement core samples were relative ranking for these metrics is presented.
ranked based on the performance levels for various

- 394 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

\\

a) 5mm notch b) 10mm notch

Figure (11): Ranking heat maps for fracture properties

Figure (12): Heat map showing the relative ranking for TSR, MR and IDT

- 395 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

From heatmap ranking, it was observed that:  It was observed that the fracture energy and
 In the ranking between functional and structural toughness for Section L468 recorded higher by
parameters case, as shown in Fig.12, Section L468 4.27% than Section L466 and Section L464
has a good performance and Section L464 has a poor exhibited a lower resistance to cracking and
performance when compared to other sections on the toughness compared to other sections by about 5%
LHS side and Section R463 has a good performance less than Section L468. Similarly, on the RHS,
while Section R469 has a poor performance when Section R463 exhibited a higher resistance to
compared to other sections on the RHS side. cracking and section R469 exhibited a lower
 In terms of fracture-analysis ranking, Section L468 resistance to cracking, by 3.47% and 3%,
on the LHS side performed well, whereas Section respectively. L466 and R469 have a lower CRI
L464 performed relatively poorly for a 5-mm notch value, by 3.12% and 6.00% less than Sections L468
opening. Section R463 performed well; however, and R463, respectively.
Section R469 performed poorly when compared to  In the ranking between functional and structural
other sections with a 5-mm notch opening. parameters, Section L468 has a good performance
 In comparison to other road sections, Sections L468 and Section L464 has a poor performance when
and R463 had higher resilient modulus, tensile compared to other sections on the LHS side, Section
strength and TSR, whereas sections L464 and R469 R463 has a good performance, while Section R469
had lower resilient modulus, tensile strength and has a poor performance when compared to other
TSR. sections on the RHS side. Sections L468 and R463
had higher resilient modulus, tensile strength and
CONCLUSIONS TSR, whereas samples from Sections L464 and L469
had lower resilient modulus.
After a thorough functional and structural examination  The ANN model has revealed that the functional and
of the selected pavement, the following conclusions structural characteristics of the pavement are
are drawn. strongly correlated with a correlation coefficient of
 By visual inspection as well as from the 0.81.
requirements of roughness index, it was observed  The highest maintenance priority index was
that the pavement is in a good condition. However, observed at chainage 468km in the direction from
from deflection measurements, LHS and RHS Medchal to Dabilpur and at chainage 466km in the
recorded characteristic deflections viz. 1.05 and 0.9 direction from Dabilpur to Medchal. As a result, it is
mm, respectively, and as per IRC 81:1997 recommended that these sections of the road should
guidelines, an overlay thickness of 145 and 135mm be prioritized first for maintenance and rehabilitation
is required for LHS and RHS, respectively. works.
 Higher peak load, stiffness and strength values were
recorded for Sections L468 and R463. Section L468 Acknowledgments
recorded a higher peak load by 5.24% when The authors would like to express their gratitude to
compared to Section R463. the Device Development Scheme, Technology
 The flexibility index was used to evaluate the failure Development Programme, Department of Science and
behavior of BC and DBM samples. As the flexibility Technology, Govt. of India, Ministry of Science and
index rises, the likelihood of cracking decreases. The Technology for providing financial assistance for this
fracture resilience index increases the toughness of research project. (Sanction order No. DST/TDT/DDP-
pavement fractures. The fracture toughness was 12/2018, dated 11.04.2019).
found to be nearly identical in both areas.

- 396 -
Jordan Journal of Civil Engineering, Volume 17, No. 3, 2023

REFERENCES IRC:81-1997. (1997). “Guidelines for strengthening of

flexible road pavements using Benkelman beam-
AASHTO. (1993). “Guide for design of pavement deflection technique”.
structures”. IRC:82-2015. (2015). “Code of practice for portable skid
ASTM D4123. (1995). “Standard test method for indirect resistance tester (British pendulum tester)”.
tension test for resilient modulus of bituminous IRC:SP:16-2019. (2019). “Guidelines on measuring road
mixtures”. American Society for Testing and Materials. roughness and norms (second revision)”.
ASTM D6931-07. (2017). “Standard test method for Issa, A., Samaneh, H., and Ghanim, M. (2022). “Predicting
indirect tensile strength of asphalt mixtures”. American pavement condition index using artificial neural
Society for Testing and Materials. networks’ approach”. Ain Shams Engineering Journal,
ASTM D7369-09. (2009). “Standard test method for 13(1), 101490.
determining the resilient modulus of bituminous Janani, L., Dixit, R.K., Sunitha, V., and Mathew, S. (2020).
mixtures by indirect tension test”. “Prioritization of pavement maintenance sections
ASTM E2583-07. (2015). “Standard test method for deploying functional characteristics of pavements”.
measuring deflections with a light-weight International J. Pavement Engineering, 21 (14), 1815-
deflectometer (LWD). “American Society for Testing 1822.
and Materials”. Kuttah, D. (2021). “Determining the resilient modulus of
ASTM, D4318-10. (2010). “Standard test methods for sandy sub-grade using cyclic light-weight
liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index of soils”. deflectometer test”. J. Transportation Geotechnics, 27,
ASTM. D8044-16. (2016). “Standard test method for 100482.
evaluation of asphalt mixture cracking resistance using Mooney, M.A., and Miller, P.K. (2009). “Analysis of light-
the semi-circular bend test (SCB) at intermediate weight deflectometer test based on in-situ stress and
temperatures”. ASTM, West Conshohocken. strain response”. J. Geotechnical and
BIS. (1970). “IS classification and identification of soils for Geoenvironmental Engrg., 135 (2), 199-208.
general engineering purposes”. IS 1498. Msallam, M., Asi, I., and Abudayyeh, D. (2017). “Safety
Bureau of Indian Standards. (1995). “IS method of test for evaluation (skid resistance) of Jordan’s national
soils (Part 5): Determination of liquid limit and plastic highway network”. Jordan Journal of Civil
limit (second revision)”. IS: 2720 (Part 5)-1985 Engineering, 11 (2).
(reaffirmed 1995). Ramesh, A., Ramayya, V.V., Reddy, G.S., and Ram, V.V.
Gunde, R., Adepu, R., Rachakonda, P., and Ch, N.R. (2022). “Investigations on fracture response of warm
(2022). “Laboratory evaluation of an indigenous- mix asphalt mixtures with nano glass fibers and
developed light-weight deflectometer as a quality- partially replaced RAP material’. J. Construction and
control tool for pavement construction”. Proceedings of Building Materials, 317 (24 January 2022), 126121.
Conference on Sustainable Materials and Practice for Reddy, G.S., Ramesh, A., and Ramayya, V.V. (2022).
Built Environment Materials, 2022, 431-439, Materials “Effect of nano-modified binder on fracture properties
Today Proceedings, ScienceDirect, Edited by Bhavna of warm mix asphalt containing RAP”. International J.
Tripathi, Meena Kumari Sharma and Priyansha Pavement Research and Technology, 16, 319-332.
Sharma. Rusmanto, U., Syafi, I., and Handayani, D. (2018).
Guzzarlapudi, S.D., Adigopula, V.K., and Kumar, R. “Structural and functional prediction of pavement
(2016). “Comparative studies of light-weight conditions: A case study on south arterial road,
deflectometer and Benkelman beam deflectometer in Yogyakarta”. Proceedings of the 4th International
low-volume roads”. J. Traffic and Transportation Conference on Engineering, Technology and Industrial
Engrg. (English Edition), 3 (5), 438-447. Applications (ICETIA) 2017, December 13th-14th, 1977
IRC: SP-72-2015. (2015). “Guidelines for the design of (1), 040014, AIP Publishing, LLC, Indonesia, Edited
flexible pavements for low-volume rural roads”. by Hari Prasetyo, Nurul Prasetyo and Nurul Hidayati.

- 397 -
Assessment and… Aditya Mantripragada, Ramesh Adepu, Venkat Ramayya Varanasi and Harinder Devavath

Sanjay, R., Tejeshwini, S., Mamatha, K.H., and Dinesh, S. Vaiana, R., Capiluppi, G.F., Gallelli, V., Iuele, T., and
(2022). “Comparative study on structural evaluation of Minani, V. (2012). “Pavement surface performance
flexible pavement using BBD and FWD”. Proceedings evolution: An experimental application”. Proceedings
of Conference on Sustainable Materials and Practice for of Conference on SIIV-5th International Congress -
Built Environment Materials, 2022, 608-615, Materials Sustainability of Road Infrastructures, October 29th-
Today Proceedings, ScienceDirect, Edited by Bhavna 30th, 1149-1160, Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Tripathi, Meena Kumari Sharma and Priyansha Sciences, Elseveir Procedia, Rome, Italy, Edited by
Sharma. Laura Moretti and Antonio D'Andrea.
Subramanyam, Aravind S., and Prasanna, Kumar R.
(2017). “Functional and structural evaluation of a road
pavement”. International J. Civil Engineering and
Technology (IJCIET), 8 (8), August, 1299-1305.

- 398 -