DESIGN HANDBOOK FOR THE ESTIMATION OF RESILIENT RESPONSE OF FINE-GRAINED SUBGRADES

Mechanistic pavement design methods offer many advantages over empirical methods, but modulus values must be specified for each component of the pavement system. A number of different subgrades may be encountered on a given pavement project, requiring a substantial testing effort to determine the subgrade resilient modulus. A Design Handbook was developed to permit the estimation of the resilient response of Tennessee subgrades with a minimum of laboratory testing. A statistical analysis of the data was used to develop a procedure for estimating the resilient modulus based on classification data and the anticipated stress conditions in the subgrade. A statistical model is also provided for the direct calculation of the resilient modulus. Applications of the handbook procedure and statistical model are demonstrated and compared with measured response.