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Investigate the suitability of local construction materials for Embankment; Sub-
grade/Improved Sub-grade/Capping; Sub-base; Aggregate Base Course; Asphalt
courses; Bridge and other Drainage Structures etc.
Identify the location of materials sources and assess the quality and quantity of materials
and hauling distances and,
labeling them properly in a sample card showing date of sampling, chainage, carriageway
side, type of material, and requisite test to be conducted etc.
3.5.2.3 Methodology of Subsoil Investigation underneath of the Existing
Pavement:
To cope up the feasibility stage report a thorough investigation particularly subgrade soil
underneath the existing pavement of all the project roads have been carried out.
The operations starts from sketching ‘strip plan’ for digging pits at the interface of
pavement and shoulder i.e. partly in the pavement and partly in the shoulder @ 6 km
staggered way.
Initially pits are made up to the bottom of pavement of 1.0mx1.0m size. The depth of
cut varies with pavement section
The pits sides are made cleaned for logging of pavement layer thickness and their
composition, in addition photographs are also taken.
After removing the excavated pavement materials from the pit Dynamic Cone
Penetration (DCP) is carried out up to the full depth of Subgrade/Improved subgrade.
On completion of DCP test, soil samples of subgrade/improved subgrade are (approx.
50 kg) soil sample have been collected, tagging with sample card for proper
identification.
Following main tests are carried out:
Natural moisture content, AASHTO T - 265
Grain size analysis/sieve analysis, AASHTO T - 27,
Atterberg limit tests, AASHTO T - 89, T-90
Maximum dry density (MDD), AASHTO T-180
California bearing ratio (CBR), (4 days soaking) AASHTO T- 193
Borrow Area Soil for Embankment/Subgrade
3.5.3.1 Embankment/Sub-grade Materials
Generally, in Bangladesh most of road embankments are constructed with soil materials
obtained from borrow pits and these soils are mostly clayey and cohesive in nature. There are
some certain disadvantages to use clayey soils in embankment construction. Clayey soils are
difficult to compact and can possess inferior engineering properties. Long term performance
of pavements constructed on clay embankments has been found to be unsatisfactory. In
addition, embankment construction using clayey soils can be very time consuming particularly
if attempted during the wet season.
Important to note that in the year 2001 Bangladesh Government has taken a Land Use Policy.
The main contents of the policy are:
Stopping the high conversion rate of agricultural land to nonagricultural purpose.
Adopting measures to discourage the conversion for urban or development purpose.
Improving the environmental sustainability of land-use practices.
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Relevance to the project – The proposed project must adhere to this policy so that
environmental sustainability of land-use practices is assured.
Again, Bangladesh is the densest populated country of the world and the population is
increasing with time and apprehending heavy threat on the availability of the required area of
agricultural land. On the other hand, for construction of new or widening of Embankment a
huge quantity of soil requires. Therefore, it is high time to consider this policy seriously so that
the agricultural land can be saved to the optimal extent. Overall Bangladesh is a riverine
country but most of the rivers are filled with siltation and navigation is lost completely in many
rivers/canals, which also causes great threat to environment. On the other hand more than
one river crosses every project roads, therefore it would not be difficult to arrange sandy/silty
soil for Embankment construction (sources are either from the rivers crosses the road and or
from nearby river or the silted rivers/canals).
It can be mentioned that construction of embankment with sandy soil is easier than the clayey
soil. In this case the side slope would be provided with the clayey soil to protect the
embankment constructed with sand/silty soil from erosion by water or wind.
In the past most of the road embankments were constructed with soil from borrow pits,
excavated alongside the embankment but all these causes losses of agricultural lands to a
high extent on the other hand environment is polluted greatly and borrow pits become bigger
breeding field of mosquitos and some living being (insects) those are of injurious to health.
Therefore, considering the land use policy and other factors as stated above, at this stage
i.e. for feasibility report phase, two (2) nos. sandy-soils samples were collected from
1.Surma river dredged fine/silty soil at chainage (deposited at 0+000 by local contractor),
2.Khanaghat at chainage 30+450 km, within 100 m from alignment.
The source locations are shown in the Fig. 3.5.2 below.
River fine/silt soil have been deposited at the afore mentioned location by dredging by local
contractors, it was a continuous process that soil being stocked and being used by the other
party for development lands nears the roadside locations. For Subgrade the soil should have
passing not more than 35% through 0.075 mm sieve and minimum 6% CBR at 95% of
Maximum Dry Density (MDD, modified)
3.5.3.2 Improved Subgrade
Improved Subgrade (ISG) is required to provide sufficient cover over weak subgrade i.e.
where the subgrade soil materials exhibit low Brouwer, in Bangladesh it becomes a very
common practice and being used many road projects above the Subgrade layer. The
Improved Subgrade is normally constructed with fine sand having Fineness Modulus (FM)
around 1.0, CBR min 8%, max percent passing 10% through sieve 0.075 mm and plasticity
index max 6%.
The major disadvantage of Improved Subgrade is that as because of non-plastic character the
materials is susceptible to displacement under movement of construction traffic during the
progress of the construction work, thus at the time of dumping the sub-base materials by the
dump truck then it is likely to cause disturb i.e. loosen the ISG layer substantially. Additionally,
during spreading the sub-base by the grader the aggregates would drag theISG material
longitudinally and laterally i.e. further disturbance happened.
Bangladesh) which can produce very homogenous mix and the resultant mix could be
compacted with vibratory steel roller easily.
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QM – 01/FA - 1 Legend:
QM – 02/FA - 2 SaluthikorghatBicha
Lalbag, Borrow pit (BP) –
nakandi
Bholagonj Dist; 50 to 60 km Quarry Material (Coarse)
Dist; 50 to 60 from mid road (MQ) –
km from mid
road Fine Aggregate (FA) -
BP-02
BP- 01
Khanaghat, river
Surma river sandy soil
(dredged sandy soil
Dist. from road: 0-5km (river
Dist. from road: 0-
runs about 30 km parallel to
5km
the road with 5-10 km away)
Fig. 3.5.2 : Source Location of Borrow Pit (BP) Soil, Quarry Materials (QM) of Coarse
Aggregates and Fine Aggregate (FA)
Materials for Pavement and Structures
3.5.4.1 Sub-base:
There is an acute scarcity of high-quality natural materials for use as aggregates in pavements
and concrete, throughout Bangladesh, due to the geological landform of the land. As there is
an acute scarcity of construction materials in Bangladesh, it would be an appropriate option to
use the salvaged materials recovered from the existing pavement, (such as stone aggregate
of sub-base/base course, crushed concrete from rigid pavement or concrete structures may
be considered for recycling into the new pavement structure under strict quality control) as
much as possible.
Definitely it would be a wise option to avoid brick aggregates for the reasons as below:
1) It would be very difficult to maintain quality control of brick as because of:
the soil will never be uniform kind with which bricks are manufacture,
mixing with water will vary one from the other,
curing will not be uniform,
burning will not be uniform,
all these will lead a non-uniform quality of brick production even in the same brick
kiln, etc.
2) agricultural land would be damaged by the brickfield which will be against the GoB land
use policy and
3) would cause environmental hazards tremendously.
Therefore, the better option would be to use gravel stone aggregates for the sub-base as
commonly used in many countries of the world. Some sources of inferior rocks/gravels are
utilized in the production of aggregates suitable for use as sub-base layers in pavement
construction.
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The Quarries are located at:
Jaflong, Bholagonj and Companygonj in Syhet district
Jhenaigati in SherpurDistrict,
Panchagar District,
Domar, Nilphamari etc.
All the sources are located near to the Bangladesh-India border. The Los Angeles Abrasion
values of these materials are typically in the range of 30-40%. Specific Gravity and water
absorptions are moderate. These materials have been used successfully in some projects in
Bangladesh.
However,in any project if there is very difficult to arrange the gravel stone aggregates in
addition considering the costing and timing to arrange, it would be likely to use brick
aggregates in sub-base construction. In such case a strict quality control need to be exercised
to achieve required quality as per specification.
Another artificial materialthe steel slag, a waste product of steel manufacturing plant may be
studied to use as sub-base materials.
The sub-base shall comply with a minimum CBR30% percent (4 days soaking)at the highest
anticipated moisture content when compacted with a specified field density which would be
98% of modified MDD. The sub-base materials should comply with specified gradation. The
sub-base materials shall have Los Angeles Abrasion Value (LAA) 40% max.
3.5.4.2 Stone/Aggregates for Base course, Asphalt and Concrete works:
Aggregates produced for use in Base course, Asphaltic Concrete and Cement Concrete;
require rocks which possess high quality engineering properties. Two nos. stone aggregates
were collected from Bichanakandi and Bholagonj. The Test results are produced in the Table
4.4.2for coarse and fine aggregates.
Presently stone required for good quality aggregates are not abundantly available. Rapid
development of infrastructure in Bangladesh, demands very large quantities of stones
aggregates, consequently quantity local source materials is being reduced with time. The
following quarries are the main sources of stone in Bangladesh:
Jaflong, BholagonjCompanygonj (Sylhet)
Jhinaigati, Sherpur District
Modhayapara in Dinajpur District.
Panchagar District.
Domar, Nilphamari District
Sylhet and Madhayapara are proven quarries from which quality stone for use in the
production of high-quality concrete and asphalt works is obtained. Stones from Jhenaigati and
Nilphamariare of comparatively inferior quality but suitable for use in pavement construction
as base and sub-base materials.
To meet the present demand the stone of specified quality it is imperative to import from other
countries and importation is being run from long time behind. The stones of specified quality
are generally imported through Bangladesh-India border at the following points:
Banglabandha at Panchagarh District
Sona-Majid at Chaipai-Nawabgonj District (Pakur stone)
Kamalpur of Sherpur District (Meghalaya stone)
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Stones from following countries are also being imported in recent past through Chittagong
seaport:
Vietnam
Oman
Thailand
India (Gujarat
The mechanical properties and chemical composition of stone of different sources that are
normally used in Bangladesh are summarized hereunder:
Summary of Physical Properties (Coarse Aggregate)
Vietnam Malaysia Madhopara Bholagong Jaflong
Source of Agg Pakur
12.00 22.87 17.40 19.20 19.98 20.72
ACV
12.15 23.87 19.80 26.30 28.45 32.10
Los Angeles
286.50 187.50 184.60 242.50 210.90 168.50
TFV
23.10 23.05 16.01 20.75 23.77 13.20
Elongation Index
16.60 15.05 12.03 21.73 19.20 20.35
Flakiness Index
2.848 2.780 2.634 2.737 2.616 2.645
Oven Dry
2.882 2.795 2.653 2.761 2.641 2.663
SSD
2.941 2.824 2.685 2.803 2.682 2.695
Apparent
Water Absorption
1.193 0.570 0.720
(%)
1.673 1.677 1.626 1.682 1.567 1.669
Unit Wt
Chemical composition (Coarse Aggregate)
Source of
Pakur Vietnam Malaysia Madhopara Bholagong Jaflong
Agg
Sio2 56.194 4.587 67.185 57.331 83.264 81.993
Fe203 11.912 1.707 4.801 9.689 3.187 3.204
Al203 10.676 1.024 10.352 9.243 4.649 5.426
Cao 10.394 78.72 5.101 11.614 2.773 2.676
mgo 3.62 12.639 0.985 4.204 0.94 0.818
K20 3.161 0.364 8.141 3.463 2.22 3.932
Ti02 1.799 0.223 0.622 1.029 0.595 0.607
Na20 1.543 0.173 1.937 2.255 0.825 0.905
P205 0.35 0.046 0.348 0.564 0.182 0.174
S03 0.224 0.244 0.174 0.085 0.096 0.117
Sr0 0.064 0.191 0.018 0.119 0.016 0.017
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Chemical composition (Coarse Aggregate)
Source of
Pakur Vietnam Malaysia Madhopara Bholagong Jaflong
Agg
Zn0 0.022
Cr203 0.031 0.06 0.068 0.047
Mn0 0.028 0.088 0.147 0.048 0.038
Zr02 0.019 0.03 0.136 0.07
Xn0 0.016 0.064
Rb20 0.015 0.08 0.014 0.015 0.017
3.5.4.3 Fine Aggregate/Coarse Sand
The sources of specified quality of Fine aggregates/Coarse sand are as below:
Jaflong, Bholagonj, Companygonj, (known as Sylhet sand), Sylhet
Modhayapara in Dinajpur District.
Panchagar District.
Sherpur District (Jhenaigati)
Domar in Nilphamari etc.
3.5.4.4 Bitumen
Performance of bitumen bound pavement layer is highly dependent upon the quality and
optimal use of bitumen. In Bangladesh generally, penetration grade bitumen is used in
asphaltic pavement works. Penetration Grades of 60-70 and 80-100 are common in use. But
softer grade (80-100) bitumen is more sensitive to load & temperature therefore in Bangladesh
due to hot temperature and simultaneously increase of axle load, and consequently the roads
get premature rutting & cracking. Therefore, use softer grade bitumen should be avoided
particularly where traffic volume is high. Again, it has experienced by many that bitumen of
same penetration grade, do not behave the same performance when the sources are different.
To overcome this problem, the grade classification by penetration value has already been
abolished in most countries of the world. Instead, grading based on viscosity at 60℃ and
Rheological properties of Bitumen has been adopted.
It is more than two decades USA has classified bitumen based on rheological properties. This
bitumen is known as performance grade or PG grade. Use of PG grade is spreading rapidly
in some other countries even in third world countries. In Arab countries PG grade have been
used from quite a few years back. In India PG has been used in some projects. Everywhere
the performance is better than other grade of bitumen as per some renown publications.
Again, to enhance pavement performance and durability of pavement furthermore, modified
bitumen is being used extensively throughout the world. Modified bitumen is characterized by
improved (i.e. higher temperature) softening point and greater durability. It is more expensive
than normal bitumen per unit cost of bitumen, but it is less expensive in terms of overall
pavement life cycle cost. Advantages of modified bitumen binders can be summarized as
follows:
Provide a stiffer binder, mixed at high temperature, hence they reduce rutting.
Provide a softer binder at low service temperatures and hence reduce low
temperature cracking,
Improve fatigue resistance where high strains are imposed on bituminous mixes.
Very high elastic recovery
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High resistance to water sensitivity
There are different types of modified bitumen. Polymer modified bitumen (PMB) has certain
advantages over other types. As the axle load survey indicates, high commercial vehicle axle
load values are expected, and this will require the use of stiff mixes of asphalt at high
temperatures.
Now it is the high time to consider changes to the bitumen specification in Bangladesh. Use
of Performance Grade with polymer modification and without modification has been specified
in final design of pavement.
As the use of PMB and use of Performance Grade of Bitumen specification in Bangladesh is
somewhat new, the construction industry and potential users have limited experience of the
material, it is recommended that its use in the project should be with extreme care. Contractor
having experience on PG Bitumen should be engaged to perform the Job. As the design
requirements, PBM should therefore be used for the wearing course and top layer of
Bituminous base course for the main carriageway where very high traffic is expected. For
SMVT lane both wearing and bituminous base as well as bottom layer of Bituminous base of
main carriageway, the bitumen it should be Performance Grade virgin bitumen without
modification.
Iranian Bitumen through Dubai is extensively used in Bangladesh. PMB from Korea has also
been used in some projects. So, these two countries can be considered as potential source of
Bitumen.
3.5.4.5 Cement:
Presently there is no shortage of Cement in Bangladesh. Many private companies
manufacturing cement, using imported clinker as raw material together with gypsum. The
products are mainly Portland Composite Cement (PCC) and classified as Type-1 cement as
per ASTM classification. However, a few companies are also producing Ordinary Portland
Cement. Other types of cement such as sulphate resistant cement and rapid hardening
cement are not produced in Bangladesh.
The world-famous company Lafarge has set up a cement factory in Sylhet and manufacturing
cement with limestone importing from India.
At present there are more than 30 nos. cement factories in Bangladesh and fulfill the local
demand and also exporting other countries.
During the consultant’s investigations, different cement producing companies were
approached
Sulphate resistant cement (Type-V) should be used in foundations of structures which will be
in contact with sulphate bearing soils. As this type of cement is not readily available in
Bangladesh, it may be required to import sulphate resistance cement.
3.5.4.6 Admixture:
Plasticizers, which may be super plasticizers or normal plasticizers, are very commonly used
in Bangladesh. These are usually used for two main purposes. One is to reduce the water
demand of the concrete and hence provide higher strength. The other is to obtain higher
workability at the same water/cement ratio.
The followings are the internationally renowned companies operating in Bangladesh:
BASF from Germany.
Fosrock from Latin America/India.
Sikament UAE/India.
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