flexible pavement

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cross sections of modern pavements

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flexible pavement

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road design

In road: Pavement
Pavements are called either flexible or rigid, according to their relative flexural stiffness. Flexible pavements (see figure, left) have base courses of broken stone pieces either compacted into place in the style of McAdam or glued together with bitumen to form asphalt. In order to maintain workability, the stones…
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runways

In airport: Runway pavements
Flexible pavements are constructed of several thicknesses of asphalt or bituminous concrete layers overlying a base of granular material on a prepared subgrade. They spread the concentrated aircraft wheel loads throughout their depth until the load at the base of the pavement is less than…
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macadam

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macadam

road construction

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Article History

Key People:: John Loudon McAdam

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macadam, form of pavement invented by John McAdam of Scotland in the 18th century. McAdam’s road cross section was composed of a compacted subgrade of crushed granite or greenstone designed to support the load, covered by a surface of light stone to absorb wear and tear and shed water to the drainage ditches. In modern macadam construction crushed stone or gravel is placed on the compacted base course and bound together with asphalt cement or hot tar. A third layer to fill the interstices is then added and rolled. Cement-sand slurry is sometimes used as the binder.