Airfield Pavement Demonstration-Validation Study

In 1977, the Federal Aviation Administration design procedure was changed from a stress analysis based on interior loading to an analysis based on jointed-edge loading. Concurrently, the University of Illinois had developed a finite element computer model which could be utilized when validated. Consequently, the city of Chicago instituted a demonstration-validation rigid pavement test program to determine actual stresses and deflections under aircraft loading for jointed-edge design and validation of the finite element model. In addition, nondestructive test devices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Illinois Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration Region 15 were compared with actual loadings and to each other in order to develop correlations for their use in pavement evaluation and design. Correlation was obtained with the finite element model and has been used for pavement design. Additional research with the nondestructive test devices is necessary and ongoing.