A TENTATIVE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN METHOD FOR FLORIDA

THE CURRENT RESULTS OF A STUDY BEING MADE TO DEVELOP A DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING THE THICKNESS OF THE LAYERS OF A FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT STRUCTURE TO CARRY A SPECIFIED PREDICTED TRAFFIC LOAD ARE DESCRIBED. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO DEVELOP A CORRELATION BETWEEN BEARING VALUES OF MATERIALS, LAYER THICKNESSES, TRAFFIC LOADS, AND PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE. THE APPROACH WAS TO FIRST SELECT REPRESENTATIVE PAVEMENTS IN RURAL LOCATIONS WITH 10-YEAR PERFORMANCE RECORDS AND OBSERVED CONDITION RATINGS OF POOR TO VERY GOOD. ACTUAL FIELD CONDITIONS WERE DETERMINED AT EACH TEST SITE, INCLUDING MOISTURE CONTENT, DENSITY AND FIELD BEARING VALUE OF EACH LAYER, TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL PROFILES, AND EVALUATION OF SURFACE CRACKING. FIELD DENSITIES AND MOISTURE CONTENTS WERE COMPARED WITH LABORATORY TESTS FOR OPTIMUM MOISTURE AND DENSITY. A RATING SYSTEM WAS DEVELOPED WHICH INDICATED BY A SINGLE NUMBER THE CONDITION OF THE PAVEMENT IN REGARD TO DEVIATION OF LONGITUDINAL PROFILE, DEPTH OF RUTTING, AND DEGREE OF SURFACE CRACKING. THE RESULTING CONDITION INDEX WAS ADJUSTED FOR TRAFFIC VOLUME AND CONVERTED TO A SERVICE RATING. A SERVICE RATING OF 60 WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A REALISTIC VALUE FOR THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN POOR AND GOOD PERFORMANCE. THICKNESS REQUIREMENTS WERE DEVELOPED USING SERVICE RATING, EQUIVALENT WHEEL LOAD DATA, AND A MODIFIED CALIFORNIA BEARING TEST. DESIGN CURVES THAT PREDICT ALL UNSATISFACTORY PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE WITH A MINIMUM OF OVER-DESIGN ARE PRESENTED. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/269/269-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 269, pp 16-34, 11 FIG, 8 TAB, 12 REF Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Zimpfer, W H
  • Bransford, T L
  • Gartner, W
• Publication Date: 1960

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 19p
• Monograph Title: Flexible pavement design studies 1960
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 269
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing tests; Field density; Flexible pavements; Graphics; Moisture content; Pavement design; Pavement performance; Pavements; Ratings; Rural highways; Service life; Thickness; Wheel loads
• Uncontrolled Terms: Graphical analysis; Pavement thickness
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205687
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 12 1994 12:00AM