Expanding the Concept of Comprehensive Area Ratio Parameter to the South-Central States: Towards Simplifying the Structural Evaluation of Flexible Pavements at the Network Level

South-Central State DOTs, as well as many other state DOTs and local highway agencies across the nation, collect nondestructive deflection test (NDT) data at the highway network level in order to identify weak pavement sections that would require further analysis at the project level. Among the various NDT utilized, Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test is one of the most common tests in judging the properties of a flexible pavement, although, there is a lack of appropriate procedure for identifying structurally weak pavement sections utilizing FWD data at the network level. A simple method which can be implemented directly and automatically in the databases is always a need of various DOTs. One of the direct methods developed in judging the structural conditions of the pavement sections is the procedure developed under Project No. 17PUTA02. Numerous parameters were developed under that project which were very useful in numerically ranking pavement sections at the network level from very strong to very weak. The above-mentioned project utilized pavement sections in the State of Texas to determining their structural conditions. The findings of the project can, potentially, be expanded to the rest of the South-Central State DOTs. This idea of analysis will provide a more reliable assessment of the actual structural condition of the highway network. This will help South-Central state DOTs and local highway agencies asset management officials to adhere to more distinct view of the structural condition of the highway network; therefore, they can provide more accurate estimation of the required funds to maintain the highway network at certain levels. Consequently, better management and allocation of the resources can be made. In addition, with a reliable assessment of the structural condition of the highway network, the pavement preservation strategies will always be allocated to structurally sound pavements while rehabilitation and reconstruction will be directed to structurally poor pavements. The proposed project will lead to the development of a powerful methodology, which when utilized can be beneficial in the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma for the structural capacity evaluation of the flexible pavements at the network level. The inadequacy of the parameters in the prevailing methods for computing the structural capacity at the network level have led to the development of the proposed method. Similarly, the successful completion of this project will result in achieving the Tran-SET goals of promoting sustainability and resiliency of the transportation infrastructure in renewing, upgrading and implementing the most cost-effective solutions.

• Record URL:
  https://transet.lsu.edu/research-in-progress/
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 20PUTSA34

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $ 120180
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747106

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)

  Louisiana State University
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Project Managers:

  Mousa, Momen

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Texas at San Antonio

  One UTSA Circle
  San Antonio, TX  United States  78249

  The University of Texas at Tyler

  3900 University Blvd
  Tyler, Texas  United States  75799
• Principal Investigators:

  Souliman, Mena

  Dessouky, Samer

• Start Date: 20200801
• Expected Completion Date: 20220201
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Falling weight deflectometers; Flexible pavements; Pavement maintenance; Pavement management systems; Structural health monitoring
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01757540
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747106
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Nov 11 2020 9:13AM