Synthesis: Pavement Widening Best Practices
Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has observed premature pavement failures on several widening projects, including shoulder widenings, conversion of two-lane roadways to Super 2 sections, and other safety enhancements. Repairing these early failures is time-consuming, expensive, disrupts traffic, and poses safety hazards. Key contributing factors include poor-quality materials, poor joint construction, inadequate drainage, differential settlement, etc. These issues could have been avoided through proper pre-evaluation, design, and construction practices; but detailed guidance which methods to employ, which can be project specific, is not readily available to district personnel. Therefore, there is a need to document and implement better widening practices. The research team will synthesize the best practices for pavement widening by conducting the following research objectives: reviewing the literature for effective widening practices; reviewing current widening practices employed by TxDOT, including: pre-design pavement evaluation, pavement layer and cross-section design, materials, project plans, specifications, and estimates, and construction practices; evaluating previous widening projects both in good and poor condition; identify issues and practices that can lead to premature failure, and practices that should be adopted more widely; and developing comprehensive guidelines and modifications to specifications.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $64932
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Contract Numbers:
0-7188
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Sponsor Organizations:
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX United States 78701-2483 -
Managing Organizations:
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX United States 78701-2483 -
Project Managers:
Kasberg, Katelyn
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Performing Organizations:
Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX United States 77843-3135 -
Principal Investigators:
Wilson, Bryan
- Start Date: 20230901
- Expected Completion Date: 20240831
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Best practices; Condition surveys; Construction management; Failure analysis; Literature reviews; Pavement widening; Quality assurance
- Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01894821
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 0-7188
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Sep 27 2023 3:36PM