Long Life Pavement and

Pavement Preservation
Session 4

1-1

Part 1
The Pros and Cons of
Preventive Maintenance

2-2

Part 1 Topics

Formal definitions

Benefits of preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance program

challenges

2-3

Formal Definitions

Maintenance

Preventive maintenance

Rehabilitation

Pavement preservation

Pavement management

Reconstruction
2-4

Definitions Applied
Preventive
Maintenance

Pavement
Preservation

Good

Pavement
Condition

Reconstruction

Rehabilitation
Poor

Routine/Corrective Maintenance
Time

2-5

Pavement Preservation

2-6

Benefits of Pavement
Preservation

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Lowers User and Agency Costs in

the Long-Term

Keeps them (and you) happy

Saves them (and you) money.

Improved Safety

Keeps them (and you) safer

2-7

Benefits of Pavement
Preservation

Manage Assets

Preventive Maintenance (PM)

Extend Pavement Life

Retard future deterioration

Enhance Pavement Performance

Protect investment
Enhance cost-effectiveness of treatments

Improve functional condition (friction, etc.)

Reduce User Delays

2-8

The Essence of Pavement

Preservation

2-9

The Essence of Pavement

Preservation

2-10

Effective Preventive
Maintenance

2-11

Examples

Michigan DOT

For every preventive maintenance $1 spent,

were saving $10

Rhode Island

I-295 will cost $30 million to fix; costs for

preventive maintenance would have been $67 million over the years

2-12

The Life of a Pavement

2-13

Pavement Maintenance

Preventive (Proactive)

Arrest light deterioration

Retard progressive failures
Reduce need for corrective maintenance
Right treatment at the right time!

Corrective (Reactive)

After deficiency occurs

More expensive
2-14

When do we have to fix our

pavement

Pavement Preservation

preserves good condition pavement

Corrective maintenance

when the pavement loses:

Load carrying ability (excessive deflection)
Waterproofing (cracks)
Surface slope (rutting)
Surface roughness (too slick)
Ride quality (bumps)

2-15

Strategy to minimize costs

2-16

Quality of road system with

time

2-17

Whats the Right project

Start by looking at overall road
network . . .

Keep pavement condition such

that corrective maintenance isnt
needed
2-18

The Problem

Public perception

fixing good roads and not fixing bad

roads

2-19

What is the Right treatment

2-20

Right treatment depends on

Existing pavement
Environment
Life Cycle Costs
Available Treatments
Customers Needs

2-21

Right treatment depends on

Existing pavement

type
structure
roughness, rideability
surface texture
distresses
drainage
etc.
2-22

Right treatment depends on

Environment

climate
past & future traffic
etc.

2-23

Right treatment depends on

Life Cycle Costs

construction
maintenance
rehabilitation
user-delay costs
impact on local businesses
vehicle repair
Etc.
2-24

Right treatment depends on

Available Treatments

Construction
requirements
Performance
Costs
Capabilities of local
agencies and
contractors
Etc.

2-25

When should treatments be

applied

2-26

Part 2
How Pavements
Perform

3-27

Part 2 Topics

Pavement types

Introduction to pavement performance

Typical pavement deterioration

Attributes of a pavement in good condition

3-28

Pavement Types

Rigid (Portland Cement Concrete or PCC)

Flexible (Hot-Mix Asphalt or HMA)

Composite

3-29

Types of Rigid Pavements

Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP)

Jointed reinforced concrete pavement

(JRCP)

Continuously reinforced concrete

pavement (CRCP)
3-30

JPCP
3.8 m to 7.6 m (typ.) (12.5 ft to 25 ft)

Transverse Joints
(with or without dowels)

PLAN
VIEW

Longitudinal Joints
(with dowels or other)
3-31

JRCP
7.6 m to 18.3 m (typ.) (25 ft to 60 ft)

PLAN
VIEW

Deformed Welded Wire

Fabric Reinforcing
(0.15% to 0.25%)
Transverse Joints
(with dowels)

Longitudinal Joint (with

tiebars or other)
3-32

CRCP
PLAN
VIEW

Continuous
Longitudinal
Reinforcement
(deformed bars)
(0.6% to 0.8%)

Typical Crack Spacing

0.9 m to 2.4 m
(3 ft to 8 ft)
Longitudinal Joint
(with tiebars)
3-33

Types of Hot-Mix Asphalt

(HMA) Pavements

HMA

With unbound (granular) base

With bound (stabilized) base

Full-depth HMA

Composite

HMA/PCC
3-34

Asphalt Pavement
Terminology

Asphalt cement
Hot-mix asphalt (HMA)
Structure:
HMA
Surface

Surface Course
Intermediate Course

Base Course (Bound or Unbound)

Subbase Course (Usually Unbound)
Subgrade Soil
3-35

Typical Pavement
Cross Section

3-36

Role of Pavement Surface

4 Roles:

Smooth ride

Skid resistance
Surface (PCC or HMA)

Moisture barrier

Base Course

Distribute load

Subbase Course

Subgrade Soil

3-37

Load Distribution in
Rigid Pavements

Subgrade soil

3-38

Load Distribution in
Flexible Pavements

Subgrade soil

3-39

Part 3
Long Life Pavement

1-40

Definition

Pavement sections designed and built to

perform as intended or longer without
requiring major structural rehabilitation or
reconstruction.
Only periodic surface renewal in response
to distresses confined to the top of the
pavement would be required.

1-41

Introduction to
Pavement Performance

Measuring Performance

Factors affecting performance

Typical distresses

Deterioration mechanisms
3-42

Two Measures of Pavement

Performance

Functional performance:

present serviceability index, pavement surface

friction, and wet-weather safety index

Structural performance:

pavement structural capacity to accommodate

future traffic

3-43

Characterizing Pavement
Condition

Distress type, severity, and extent

Overall rating

Index or composite index

3-44

Attributes of a Pavement in
Good Condition

High level of service (LOS)

Safe

High customer satisfaction

Exceeds target performance indicators or

has limited deterioration; e.g.,

IRI < 1.5 mm/m (95 in/mi)

PCI > 70 or PCR 3.5

Skid Number > 35

3-45

Factors Affecting
Pavement Performance
Environment
Maintenance
and Rehabilitation

Traffic

Design

Subgrade
Soil
Materials

Construction
Variability
3-46

Typical HMA
Pavement Distresses

Fatigue cracking
Bleeding
Block cracking
Polishing
Edge cracking
Roughness
Longitudinal and transverse cracking
Reflection cracking
Raveling/weathering/oxidation
Potholes
Rutting (stable/unstable)
3-47

HMA Rehabilitation Strategies

HMA over HMA renewal methods

HMA over existing HMA pavement

HMA over reclaimed HMA (recycling)

HMA over PCC renewal methods

HMA over existing HMA-surfaced composite

pavements
HMA over crack and seated JPC pavements
HMA over saw, crack and seat JRC pavements
HMA over rubblized JPC pavements
HMA over existing CRC pavements
1-48

Guiding Principles to Achieve

Long Life Pavement

Keep the treatment solution as simple as

possible

But not too simple so as to not address critical

underlying problems.

The quality of construction is essential in

achieving long life pavements.
Pavements are supposed to act as one layer;

Therefore the bond between layers should never

be compromised, and a few thick layers are
always better than multiple thin layers.
1-49

Guiding Principles to Achieve

Long Life Pavement

All joints are weaknesses; therefore they need to

be treated as such.
Good, continuous, and sustainable drainage is
essential to long life pavement;

Therefore no matter how thick the renewal solution is,

it can fail if drainage is not provided.

Foundation uniformity is essential to

reduce/eliminate stress concentrations, which can
cause future cracking.
A solid foundation allows good compaction;
unsupported edges can never be properly
compacted.
1-50

Guiding Principles to Achieve

Long Life Pavement

A solid foundation allows good compaction;

unsupported edges can never be properly
compacted.
Thermal movements of the existing pavement
are the underlying cause for much reflective
cracking; therefore they must be eliminated
(by fracturing the existing pavement).
Good performing asphalt mixtures should
have high binder content and low air voids (to
have high durability), and smaller nominal
size (to avoid segregation).
1-51

Typical Rigid
Pavement Distresses

Blow-ups

Joint seal damage

Transverse cracking

Longitudinal cracking

Loss of fines
(pumping)

Corner breaks

Materials-related
distress

Polishing (loss of
friction)

Transverse joint
faulting

Map cracking and

scaling

Roughness

Joint spalling

3-52

Guiding Principles to Achieve

Long Life Pavement

Foundation support (uniformity, volumetric

stability [including stabilizing treatments])
Drainage design (moisture collection/removal
and design for minimal maintenance)
Concrete mixture proportioning and
components (selected to minimize shrinkage
and potential for chemical attack, low CTE,
provide adequate strength, etc.)
1-53

Guiding Principles to Achieve

Long Life Pavement

Dowels and reinforcing (corrosion

resistance, sized and located for good
load transfer)
Accuracy of design inputs
Construction parameters (including paving
operations, surface texture, initial
smoothness, etc.)
QA/QC (certification, pre-qualification,
inspection, etc.)
1-54

Perpetual Pavement

40-75 mm SMA, OGFC or Superpave

100 mm
to
150 mm

Max Tensile Strain

Zone
Of High
Compression

High Modulus
Rut Resistant Material
(Varies As Needed)

Flexible Fatigue Resistant

Material 75 - 100 mm

Pavement Foundation

Value
Quality . . . is what the customer gets out [of a
product] and is willing to pay for. A product is not
quality because it is hard to make and costs a lot of
money . . . This is incompetence. Customers pay
only for what is of use to them and gives them value.
Nothing else constitutes quality.
Peter Drucker

Economics

Total
Costs

Alternative
Perpetual
Pavement

Time

Why are Perpetual Pavements

Important?

Lower Life Cycle Cost

Better Use of Resources

Low Incremental Costs for Surface Renewal

Lower User Delay Cost

Shorter Work Zone Periods

Off-Peak Period Construction

Rehabilitation
Possible Distresses

Structure Remains Intact

Top-Down Fatigue

50 - 100 mm

Solutions

Thermal Cracking

Mill & Fill

Raveling

Thin Overlay

High Quality SMA, OGFC or Superpave

20+ Years Later

Life Cycle Costs

Important to consider

Initial Costs
Rehabilitation and Maintenance Costs
Reconstruction costs
Time

Should break costs into

Agency costs
User Costs

Design Comparison Low

Volume

50 year design
1 mile, 2 Lane, 12 ft lanes
Traffic: 5000 ADT (Rural Setting)
6 HMA

Perpetual
($360,000)

Conventional
($230,000)
3 HMA

12 Granular Base

6 Granular Base

Subgrade
Muench, et al., 2004

Portland, Maine