PURPOSES: The objective of this study is to evaluate road subsidence based on model chamber tests.
METHODS : A theoretical review of road subsidence mechanisms was carried out, and a series of soil chamber tests with initial cavities were conducted under various conditions. Road subsidence risk was analyzed based on these results.
RESULTS: The cavity collapse risk was affected by multiple factors, including cavity location, traffic loading, and asphalt layer thickness. The Nf number of loading required to reach cavity collapse increased as the cavity width increased, cavity depth decreased, and asphalt layer thickness increased.
CONCLUSIONS: The effects of asphalt thickness on the risk of road subsidence was assessed to have an additional 1.5-fold effect on the subgrade thickness. This study proposed an effective cavity depth (Deff), considering the strength of the asphalt layer. Based on the results of the model chamber test, a four-class road subsidence risk model was proposed with effective cavity depths and widths. It was found that the risk of road subsidence increased as the cavity width increased and the effective cavity depth decreased. This trend is also well matched to the road subsidence risk models of Japan and Seoul.