Assessment of the Impact of Drainage Structures on Road Asset in Ethiopia; the Case of Burayu Town
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Date
2016-11
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Abstract
Drainage is one of the most important factors to be considered in the road design, construction
and maintenance projects. It is generally accepted that road structures work well and last longer
to give the desired service. When a road fails, whether it is concrete, asphalt or gravel,
inadequate drainage is often a major factor to be considered. A pavement distress that occurs at
the surface can have a number of different causes which must be properly identified before
corrective action is taken. The visible manifestation of the problem at the surface may be the
same; however, the solution for each cause may be different. Therefore, if the remedial action
is to be effective, the cause of the problem must be identified and corrected.
The present road condition of Burayu shows rapid deterioration. The severity of pavement
distresses is even more critical on the major arterial roads were the traffic volume of busses,
heavy trucks, passenger vehicles and taxies is comparatively higher than other road
network. Such severe distresses summed up with inadequate road signs and markings are
resulting congestion and consequently causing further deterioration of roads due to maximum
static load sustained from the vehicular traffic waiting in a queue on the pavement.
This research mainly focuses on making assessment of road pavement condition, identifying
causes of pavement distress and proposing maintenance options for the arterial roads of
Burayu. These roads are most widely utilized, and therefore prone to severe distress and
consequently exhibiting repeated maintenance and repair. Visual distress assessment, and other
necessary investigations were carried out on selected test road sections in order to have better
understanding of the pavement response and come up with identification of probable causes.
Major causes of pavement distress associated with load, drainage and durability are tried to be
identified.
The visual survey analysis indicates that almost all test roads have very low PCI value.
Raveling, corrugation, Bumps and sags are the most dominant type of distresses constituting
more than 75% of the distress densities in the arterial road network. The majority of test
sections showing low PCI values. The investigation and analysis also showed that moisture and
drainage associated distresses are predominant in the arterial roads and most likely on the
whole network as well. Moreover, it is also observed that most of the existing pavements lack
structural adequacy and hence require reconstruction than doing a routine maintenance and/or
rehabilitation.
Keywords: Road Drainage System, Urban Road, Maintenance, Flood damage,
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Keywords
Road Drainage System; Urban Road; Maintenance; Flood damage