Session 3: Concrete Pavement

Evaluation
Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the need for a thorough
pavement evaluation
2. Name the common pavement
evaluation components
3. Describe what information is obtained
from each pavement evaluation
component

3.2
Introduction
• For an existing pavement, the overall
goal is to provide a cost-effective solution
that:
– Addresses pavement deficiencies
– Satisfies constraints
• Detailed pavement evaluation required to
achieve this goal

3.3
Purposes of a Pavement
Evaluation
• Provides qualitative information to:
– Determine causes of deterioration
– Determine if pavement is not a candidate
for preventive maintenance
– Develop appropriate alternatives
• Provides quantitative information for:
– Quantity estimates
– Assessment of deterioration rates
– Performing life-cycle cost analyses
3.4
Data Required for
Pavement Evaluation
• Pavement and shoulder condition
• Pavement design
• Materials and soil properties
• Traffic volumes and loadings
• Climatic conditions
• Drainage conditions
• Geometric factors
• Safety aspects
• Other factors
3.5
Project Evaluation Approach
1. Historical data collection/records review
2. Initial site visit and assessment
3. Field testing activities
4. Laboratory materials characterization
5. Data analysis
6. Final field evaluation report

3.6
Key Pavement Evaluation
Components
• Pavement Distress and Drainage
Surveys
• Deflection Testing
• Roughness and Surface Friction Testing
• Field Sampling and Testing

Which activity is most useful in identifying

candidate preservation projects?

3.7
Pavement Distress and
Drainage Surveys

3.8
Purposes of Distress Survey
• Document pavement condition
• Identify types of distress
• Group areas of similar performance
• Gain insight into causes of deterioration
• Identify additional testing needs
• Identify possible treatment alternatives
• Identify repair areas and quantities

3.9
Pavement Distress
• Fundamental performance indicator
• Characterized by:
– Type
• What?
– Severity
• How Bad?
– Extent
• How Much?

3.10
Distress Identification Manual
• Standardized distress definitions
• Benefits
– More consistent calls
– Better communication within and
between highway agencies
– Improvements in any agency activity
using pavement performance
information
3.11
Example Distress Manuals

3.12
Output of Distress Surveys
• Distress types Example Index
and quantities PCI Repair Type
100
• Overall indicator EXCELLENT
Preventive
85
of condition 70
VERY GOOD Maintenance

(PAVER, PASER, 55
GOOD
Minor to Major
Rehabilitation
State DOT 40
FAIR

POOR
procedures) 25
VERY POOR Reconstruction
10
FAILED
0

3.13
Common Concrete
Pavement Distresses
• Corner Breaks • Blowup
• D-Cracking or ASR • Map Cracking
• Transverse Cracking • Punchout
• Spalling • Scaling
• Patch/Patch Deter. • Longitudinal Cracking
• Joint Faulting
• Pumping
• Joint Seal Damage

Table 3.3 on p. 3.10 3.14

Class Exercise

Distress Identification

3.15
Transverse Cracking

3.16
Pumping

3.17
Joint Faulting

3.18
Corner Break

3.19
Joint Spalling

3.20
Spalling Due to Joint Lockup

3.21
Joint Seal Damage

3.22
Transverse Cracking
(Consecutive Slabs)

3.23
Blowup

3.24
Map Cracking

3.25
Alkali-Silica Reactivity

3.26
Longitudinal Cracking

3.27
Map (Plastic Shrinkage)
Cracking

3.28
D-Cracking

3.29
Scaling

3.30
Patch Deterioration

3.31
Punchout (CRCP)

3.32
Manual Distress Surveys
• For project-level evaluation, manual
procedures often preferred
– Gather records and information
– Windshield survey
– Distress survey
• Distress mapping
• Measurements
• Photos
3.33
Example Distress Form

Blank

Filled
Out

Fig 3.1 on p. 3.12

3.34
Drainage Survey
• Purposes:
– Identify moisture-related distress
– Document drainage conditions
– Assess overall pavement drainability
• Things to look for:
– Topography and cut/fill
– Pavement/shoulder slopes
– Condition and geometrics of ditches
– Condition of drainage outlets or inlets
3.35
Topography and Condition
of Ditch

3.36
Condition of Outlets

3.37
Evaluation of Distress and
Drainage Survey Results
• Distress Evaluation
– Summarize key distress data
– Prepare strip charts over project
– Evaluate historical trends
• Drainage Evaluation
– Overall pavement drainability
– Condition of ditches and outlets
– Evaluation of drainage times (DRIP
program)
3.38
Slab Cracking Strip Chart
Poor Fair Poor
Drainage Drainage Drainage
High Traffic Low Traffic
% of Slabs Cracked

Condition 1 Condition 2 Condition 3

Severity
Low
Med
High

Fig. 3.2 on p. 3.14 Distance Along Project

3.39
Closure—Distress and
Drainage Surveys
• Provides fundamental information on
pavement performance
• General indicator of pavement
deficiencies and needs
• Drives the need for additional field testing

3.40
Deflection Testing

3.41
Deflection Testing
• For pavement preservation work,
valuable tool for assessing:
– Joint load transfer
– Presence of voids
– Structural adequacy
• Fast and produces repeatable results
• Commonly used in project-level analysis

3.42
Falling Weight Deflectometer

Weight

Drop
Height Weight
Load
Buffering Plate
System

Pavement Seven Sensors Spaced at 12 inches Center to Center

Fig. 3.4 on p. 3.17

3.43
Backcalculation of Material
Properties
• Equations used to analyze deflection
basins
• Provides estimates of PCC and subgrade
layer strengths
– PCC elastic modulus
– Modulus of subgrade reaction (k-value)
• Backcalculated values used in design

3.44
Deflection Load Transfer
0% Load
Wheel
Transfer
Load Direction of Traffic

Approach Slab Leave Slab

Unloaded
100% LT =
Load Wheel Loaded
Transfer Load Direction of Traffic

Approach Slab Leave Slab

Fig. 3.11 on p. 3.24

3.45
Void Detection with FWD
• Maximum deflection (typ. 20 to 35 mils)
• Load sweep
and 20
FWD load, kips
deflection 15
CH
A
plotting 10 P R O
E AV E
L
AP
5
0
10 20 30 40 50
Corner Deflection, milli-inches
Fig. 3.12 on p. 3.24

3.46
Closure—Deflection Testing
• Not needed on all pavement preservation
projects
• Provides information on load transfer
capabilities, voids, and structural capacity
• Can have significant testing and analysis
costs

3.47
Roughness and Surface
Friction Testing

3.48
Why Assess Pavement
Roughness and Friction?
• Roughness affects “functional”
performance
• Roughness leads to increases in:
– Vehicle operating costs
– User delays
– Crashes
• Friction loss leads to increases in wet
weather crashes
3.49
Pavement Serviceability
• Subjective measure of user’s perception
of pavement rideability
• Measurement scale
– 0.0 (very poor) to 5.0 (very good)
– Working range: 1.5 to 4.5
• Basis for AASHTO design
• Correlations with other roughness
indexes
3.50
Inertial Road Profiling Systems
Equipment (IRPS)
• Measures actual pavement profile
• Widespread use in network-level
pavement management
• Relatively accurate
and repeatable
measurements

3.51
Roughness Indicators
• IRI current roughness measurement
standard
• Serviceability (PSR) used in AASHTO
• General correlations:
Ride Quality IRI PSR
Good <95 >3.5
Acceptable <170 >2.5
Not Acceptable >170 <2.5
Table 3.4 on p. 3.28 3.52
Why Assess Pavement
Friction?
• Assess overall adequacy of pavement
friction as it contributes to safety
(especially wet-weather crashes)
• Identify localized areas with poor friction
– Curves
– Intersections
– Ramps

3.53
Definition of Surface Friction
• Force developed at pavement-tire
interface that resists sliding
• Influenced by:
– Surface texture
• Microtexture
• Macrotexture
– Surface drainage
(cross-slope)
Fig. 3.13 on p. 3.26 3.54
How Do You Assess
Surface Friction?
• Historical method—Measure friction
directly (“skid number”)
• Must also consider surface texture
– Microtexture
• Roughness of individual aggregate
– Macrotexture
• General coarseness of surface
• Formed water channels (grooving)
• Large impact on surface friction
3.55
Friction Measuring Devices
Locked-Wheel Trailer

Does NOT measure texture!

3.56
Surface Texture Measuring
Devices
• Volumetric
(“Sand Patch”)
method
• Outflow meter
• Circular track
meter (CTMeter)
• High-speed laser-
based devices

3.57
Closure—Roughness and
Surface Friction
• Provides indicator of “functional”
performance
– Rideability
– Safety
• Possible need for testing indicated by
user complaints and wet-weather
crashes

3.58
Field Sampling and Testing

3.59
Purposes of Field Sampling
and Testing
• Characterize material properties
– In absence of deflection data
– To complement deflection data
• Diagnose causes (mechanisms) of
distress
• Identify existing material properties

3.60
Common Field Sampling and
Testing Methods
• Coring
• Material sampling
• Dynamic cone
penetrometer (DCP)
• Standard penetration
testing (SPT)

3.61
Common Laboratory Tests
• Subgrade and granular base/subbase
– Characterization (soil classification,
moisture content)
– California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
– Resilient Modulus (Mr)
• Stabilized layers and PCC slab
– Indirect Tension
– Unconfined Compression
– Special Materials Evaluation Tests
3.62
Closure—Field Sampling and
Testing
• Detailed field sampling and testing not
needed on every project
• Information obtained from distress
surveys will help identify needs
• Agencies should be selective in
identifying testing needs, as many tests
are specialized and costly

3.63
Review: Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the need for a thorough
pavement evaluation
2. Name the common pavement evaluation
components
3. Describe what information is obtained
from each pavement evaluation
component

3.64