PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE CORRELATED WITH SOIL AREAS

ROAD PERFORMANCE SURVEYS WERE CONDUCTED ON 18,000 MILES OF ROAD THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF VIRGINIA DURING THE SPRING BREAK-UP OF 1948 AND UNIFORM RATINGS WERE ORIGINATED. THESE RATINGS WHICH WERE DEPENDENT UPON THE DEGREE OF PAVEMENT DISTRESS, DEPICTED ROAD CONDITIONS WHEN LOWEST SUPPORT CHARACTERISTICS PREVAILED. DURING THE SURVEY, MAPS OF EACH COUNTY, SHOWING PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY ROADS, WERE COMPARED. ROAD PERFORMANCE WAS STUDIED ACCORDING TO 12 GENERAL SOIL AREAS, ESTABLISHED BY GROUPING SOILS ON A BASIS OF PHYSIOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND PEDOLOGY. FURTHER STUDY OF PERFORMCE WAS MADE BY GROUPING ACCORDING TO BASE AND SURFACE TYPES. PAVEMENTS WERE FOUND TO PERFORM BEST IN THREE SOIL AREAS, SANDSTONE AND SHALE, TRIASSIC SANDSTONE, AND COASTAL PLAIN SEDIMENTS. SIGNIFICANT FACTS ESTABLISHED BY THE SURVEY ARE: (1) CLIMATE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE DETERIORATION OF PAVEMENT WHEN A CERTAIN COMBINATION OF PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE OCCURS, (2) ADEQUATE SURFACE AND SUB-SURFACE DRAINAGE ARE PREREQUISITES FOR SATISFACTORY ROAD PERFORMANCE, (3) BITUMINOUS CONCRETE AND OTHER HIGH- TYPE PLANT MIXES GIVE BETTER SERVICE THAN OTHER BITUMINOUS SURFACES, (4) LOW-TYPE BASES OF LOCAL AND STABILIZED, SELECTED MATERIALS ARE ADEQUATE ONLY IF SUBGRADE SOILS HAVE FAVORABLE SUPPORT CHARACTERISTICS, AND (5) FOR ECONOMY, PAVEMENTS AND BASES SHOULD BE DESIGNED ON AN AERIAL SOIL BASIS.

• Record URL:
  https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/29/29-031.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 29, pp 445-466, 24 FIG, 6 TAB, 8 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:
  • Maner, A W
  • Stevens, J C
  • Shelburne, T E
• Publication Date: 1950

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 13-16, 1949.
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 29
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aerial surveying; Asphalt concrete; Climate; Data collection; Defects; Geology; Maps; Pavement distress; Pavement performance; Pavements; Plant mix; Ratings; Sandstones; Shale; Soil groups; Soil science; Subgrade materials; Subsurface drainage; Surface drainage; Surveys; Thaw
• Uncontrolled Terms: Spring breakup
• Old TRIS Terms: Aerial surveys; Geology (Soils)
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00206791
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Aug 12 1994 12:00AM