DCP for Low Volume Road Design / Construction

Due to its low impact on overall highway system in case of failure, low volume road design and construction acceptance are very often ignored by highway agencies. The negligence more often than not is due to lack of staff to handle these minor projects. From a macro highway system point of view, impact of low volume road failure is not significant. But for users who depend on this system to support their daily life, a failure is detrimental. There is a need to develop a simple, easy to follow, and reliable procedure to design and accept low volume roads. Data collected using a Dynamic Cone Penetrometer (DCP) on several construction projects show that such a procedure is possible. A DCP base low volume road design and construction acceptance procedure is proposed. This procedure is simple enough that a reliable road can be designed and constructed under the supervision of a junior engineer.