Simple Model for Structural Evaluation of Asphalt Concrete Pavements at the Network Level
Publication: Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 12, Issue 1
Abstract
Evaluation of the structural conditions and estimation of the remaining structural life of each pavement section are important considerations for prioritizing the maintenance needs of any highway network. Many highway agencies, where equipment for evaluation is not available and maintenance funds are limited, may not be able to carry out a detailed structural evaluation on individual pavement sections. An attempt has been made in this paper to develop a simple and cost effective model for structural evaluation of existing pavements. The important features of the model are (1) it can be executed with minimal amount of data, (2) the model is simple and does not require use of any costly equipment, and (3) the output of the model can be directly used for prioritization of maintenance needs at the network level. Two such models have been developed. The models are statistical and are derived from the long term pavement performance (LTPP) database developed by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The models have been validated and their predictions for remaining structural life (RSL) have been compared with the RSL obtained using the fatigue and rutting distress models of the Asphalt Institute. The results indicate that the proposed models are capable of predicting the RSL of existing pavements with reasonable accuracy and consistency, given that their primary use is in evaluating pavement structural conditions at the network level and for the purpose of prioritizing pavement sections for maintenance purposes.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
AASHTO. (1993). Guide for the design of pavement structures, Washington, D.C.
Ali, H. A., and Tayabji, S. D. (1998). “Evaluation of mechanistic-empirical performance prediction models for flexible pavements.” Transportation Research Record 1629, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 169–180.
Ali, H. A., Tayabji, S. D., and Torre, F. L. (1998). “Calibration of mechanistic-empirical rutting model for in-service pavements.” Transportation Research Record 1629, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 159–168.
Asphalt Institute (AI). (1999). “Thickness design—asphalt pavements for Highways and streets.” Manual series no. 1 (MS-1), Lexington, Ky.
Asphalt Institute (AI). (2000). “Asphalt overlays for highway and street rehabilitation.” Manual series no. 17 (MS-17), revised Ed., Lexington, Ky.
AUSTROADS. (1992). Pavement design. Sydney, Australia.
Briggs, R. C., and Nazarian, S. (1989). “Effects of unknown rigid subgrade layers on backcalculation of pavement moduli and projections of pavement performance.” Transportation Research Record 1227, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 183–193.
Chua, David K. H. (1996). “Framework for PMS using mechanistic distress submodels.” J. Transp. Eng., 122(1), 29–40.
Chua, K. H., and Monismith, C. L. (1994). “Mechanistic model for transition probabilities.” J. Transp. Eng., 120(1), 144–159.
Chua, K. H., Monismith, C. L., and Crandall K. C. (1994). “Dynamic decision model for pavement management using mechanistic pavement performance submodel.” Transportation Research Record 1397, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 15–24.
Elfino, M. K., Choubane, B., and McQueen, R. D. (1995). “Pavement evaluation in Virginia: state of the practice.” Transportation Research Record 1505, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 85–94.
Federal Highway Administration (FHA). (1998). “LTPP 1998 year in review.” Publication No. FHWA-RD-99-111, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.
Fernando, E. G., Luhr, D. R., Antle, C. E., and Anderson, D. A. (1988). “Evaluation of flexible pavement performance from pavement structural response.” Transportation Research Record 1207, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 111–120.
Gendreau, M., and Soriano, P. (1998). “Airport pavement management systems: An appraisal of existing methodologies.” Transp. Res., Part A: Policy Pract. 32(3), 197–214.
Gujarati, D. N. (1988). Basic econometrics, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, N.Y.
Haas, R., Hudson, W. R., and Zaniewski, J. (1994). Modern pavement management. Krieger, Malabar, Fla.
Huang, Y. H. (1993). Pavement analysis and design. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Indian Roads Congress. (2001). “Guidelines for the design of flexible pavements.” Rep. No. IRC:37-2001, New Delhi.
Miner, M. A. (1945). “Cumulative damage in fatigue.” Proc., ASME, New York, A159–A164.
Sebaaly, P., Tabatabaee, N., Bonaquist, R., and Anderson, D. (1989). “Evaluating structural damage of flexible pavements using cracking and falling weight deflectometer data.” Transportation Research Record 1227, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 44–52.
Shell International Petroleum Company. (1978). Shell pavement design manual—asphalt pavements and overlays for road traffic,” London.
Vepa, T. S., George, K. P., and Raja Shekharan, A. (1996). “Prediction of pavement remaining life.” Transportation Research Record 1524, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 137–144.
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). (1995a). ⟨http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/fossc/mats/Apps/EPG.htm⟩ (Sept. 2001).
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). (1995b). “WSDOT pavement guide, Vol. 3, Olympia, Wash.
Wonnacott, T. H., and Wonnacott, R. J. (1972). Introductory statistics, 2nd Ed., John Wiley and Sons, N.Y.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Volume 12 • Issue 1 • March 2006
Pages: 41 - 49
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 23, 2003
Accepted: Apr 20, 2005
Published online: Mar 1, 2006
Published in print: Mar 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.