Article

Received 16.01.2025

Revised 21.05.2025

Accepted 24.06.2025

Retrieved from Iss. 117, P. 2, 2025

Pages 126 -136

Petrovych, V., & Kаsai, K. (2025). STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SUBGRADE SOIL MOISTURE ON THE STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PAVEMENT STRUCTURE. Automobile Roads and Road Construction, (117.2), 126-136. https://doi.org/10.33744/0365-8171-2025-117.2-126-136

STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OF SUBGRADE SOIL MOISTURE ON THE STRENGTH AND DEFORMATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PAVEMENT STRUCTURE

Volodymyr Petrovych Kostiantyn Kаsai

The article examines how the moisture content of the pavement subgrade affects the strength and deformation performance of the overall pavement structure. In Ukraine, about 99 % of public roads have flexible pavement, whose layers exhibit strength properties that vary with temperature, moisture, and duration of applied loads. Moisture in the subgrade soil is therefore a critical factor governing structural reliability and long-term serviceability. Ensuring that a road pavement can sustain required traffic and service conditions is a pressing task worldwide and particularly urgent in Ukraine, where, under current circumstances, air transport does not function as an alternative. Modern highway operation calls for close attention to water migration processes in the pavement subgrade, since the subgrade’s strength and deformation response depend directly on its moisture regime. Infiltration of precipitation into the pavement body changes soil moisture and density, which in turn affects bearing capacity. The soil subgrade serves as the foundation for the entire pavement system. Any alterations in its physical and mechanical condition caused by wetting or prolonged oversaturation accumulate over years of service and manifest as cracking, layer disintegration, rutting, and other forms of structural distress. The study aims to quantify, on a full-scale pavement section, the influence of subgrade soil moisture on strength and deformation parameters, and to model how these parameters vary depending on soil type and moisture content. A review of scientific publications, together with laboratory tests, numerical calculations, and mathematical modeling, shows that maintaining adequate strength of the subgrade is a prerequisite for durable pavement performance. This can be achieved by ensuring the soil remains in a sufficiently firm state both during construction and throughout service life. For example, for sandy loam the design moisture content should not exceed about 60 % of the liquid-limit moisture, and for clayey soils about 55 %

highway, active stress, water-thermal regime, moisture, soil, pavement, embankment, modulus of elasticity, indicator, working layer, physical and mechanical properties
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https://doi.org/10.33744/0365-8171-2025-117.2-126-136