Forensic Investigation of Pavement: Practices in North America and a Pilot Investigation
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 31, Issue 4
Abstract
State agencies/provinces and civil engineers must remain current in forensic pavement investigation procedures and inspection technologies to efficiently maintain public roads. Preliminary pavement investigation procedures typically consist of visual condition surveys and subjective observations. When visual inspections indicate a functional or structural problem may exist, a more refined investigation is necessary. Nondestructive and destructive testing methods, as well as locally documented pavement performance rating data, provide valuable information to further determine the extent of a functional or structural problem. This paper presents a survey of state department of transportation practices to identify the most widely used forensic investigation techniques applied to rigid and flexible pavements. The survey results reveal that falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) tests are the most commonly used nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques for forensic pavement investigation. Finally, a pilot investigation of a jointed plain concrete pavement section was conducted. It was concluded that the forensic pavement investigation procedure recommended by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 747 was consistent with the survey results and effective for implementation.
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Acknowledgments
The study presented in this paper was conducted by the University of Georgia under the auspices of the GDOT (RP 14-13). The authors extend our sincere appreciation to GDOT staff and DOT pavement engineers that anonymously participated in the survey. The opinions, findings, and conclusions may not reflect the views of the funding agency or other individuals.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 31 • Issue 4 • August 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 19, 2016
Accepted: Dec 9, 2016
Published online: Feb 28, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 28, 2017
Published in print: Aug 1, 2017
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