Estimating Road Pavement Failure Susceptibility Using a Modified TDRAMS Model in South-Western Nigeria

The study focused on the model analysis of failure susceptibility for some roads in the South-western part of Nigeria using TDRAMS model along with its modified version. TDRAMS, a model prepared through an analyzed weight-rating system was used to analyze pavement failure manifestation in the present study area and to what possible extent. Different pavement failure causative factors which include: Traffic load {T}, depth of water table {D}, soaked California bearing ratio {R}, cambering{A}, maximum dry density {M}, and asphalt thickness {S} were proposed. Their field data were analyzed and simulations were done to postulate a model for road failure susceptibility. The weights and ratings of the collected field data were also varied/modified to determine its effect on the model. Simulations on the varied weight showed that the most significant parameters were {T}Traffic load and {D}depth of the water table. The optimum weights were discovered to be 32 (81% weight increase) and 23 (78% weight increase) for {T}Traffic load and {D}depth to water table respectively. Simulations on the varied ratings showed that alongside with {R}soaked California bearing ratio [CBR], {T}Traffic load and {D}depth of water table were also the most significant parameters. The roads studied indicated high failure susceptibility when analyzed.