E – 1260 – Flexible Pavements

This course will introduce you to the materials and methods used to construct flexible pavements for streets, highways, parking lots, and open storage areas. Flexible pavements are constructed using bituminous (asphalt or tar) concrete. The pavement’s principal components are the subgrade, select materials for a subbase course, the base course, and the bituminous concrete pavement. This course will introduce you to the important characteristics of these components, and a design methodology that will guide you in selection of appropriate material specifications and course thicknesses.

Course Outline
1. FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT SUBGRADES
2. FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT SELECT MATERIALS AND SUBBASE COURSES
3. FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT BASE COURSES
4. BITUMINOUS PAVEMENT
5. FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN

This course provides introductory information about subgrades, subbase, base and pavement courses for flexible pavements.

Learning Objectives

At the successful conclusion of this course, you’ll be able to identify and discuss:

• Learn about material selection, compaction, and drainage for proper subgrade preparation;
• Learn how to use the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) in pavement design;
• Learn how to specify and utilize locally available materials for economical subbase courses;
• Learn compaction requirements for subgrade, subbase and base courses;
• Learn how to specify bitumen type and grade for pavement layers;
• Learn minimum thicknesses of pavement and base courses;
• Learn a design procedure for conventional flexible pavements; and
• Learn about thickness criteria for stabilized soil layers.