RES2019-18: Evaluating Roadway Subsurface Drainage Practices

The purpose of this project is to develop a means for assessing the drainability of subgrade soils in Tennessee and conduct a comprehensive performance review of them under different weather conditions (e.g., high-intensity storms, sequences of storm events, winter weather requiring salt application). The scope of this work includes a combination of geospatial mapping, analytical methods, and controlled lab experiments. We will identify critical areas in the three regions Tennessee (east, central, and west) that are prone to poor drainage using satellite-based, remote sensing and GIS information. The performance of current and alternative drainage designs will be assessed using a simple drainage calculator. The performance of the proposed alternative designs will also be determined using complementary laboratory analyses that consider, for the first time, all three mechanisms of water entering the sublayers, namely, penetration through pavement joints and cracks, lateral seepage from ditches, and intrusion of rising groundwater.

• Record URL:
  https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tdot/long-range-planning/research/final-reports/2019-final-reports-and-summaries/RES2019-18_Final_Report_Approved.pdf

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $129,181.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RES2019-18

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Tennessee Department of Transportation

  James K. Polk Building
  Fifth and Deaderick Street
  Nashville, TN  United States  37243-0349
• Project Managers:

  Peck, Wesley

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Tennessee, Knoxville

  Knoxville, TN  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Papanicolaou, A. N.

• Start Date: 20181201
• Expected Completion Date: 20220530
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Transportation, Planning, Research, and Development

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drainage practices; Soil compaction; Subsurface drainage
• Subject Areas: Environment; Maintenance and Preservation; I51: Earthworks and Soil Drainage;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01709915
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Tennessee Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: RES2019-18
• Files: RIP
• Created Date: Jul 2 2019 10:25AM