Evolution of Pavement Friction and Macrotexture After Asphalt Overlay
A trend of observed increases in both the number and rate of total and wet crashes after resurfacing projects has become a safety concern for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT). Wet collision rates may increase due to a reduction in skid resistance under wet conditions. The precise amount of loss is dependent on many factors, but the consensus among experts is that pavement friction and macrotexture are two important factors that affect the skid resistance and the ways that this resistance changes in wet weather. Although the NCDOT actively addresses skid resistance issues as they are identified, a recent study involving a small subset of North Carolina roadways concluded that NCDOT needed to consider characterization of both friction and macrotexture as part of its pavement friction measurement and management plan. While the current studies have successfully identified the potential for issues in recently overlaid projects, they did not identify whether these effects are temporary, and if so, how long they may last. With respect to this need, this research study has set out to achieve three objectives; (1) identify whether the observations from the initial study are systemic and quantify the initial findings on a larger basis, (2) determine how long potential impacts may last after the overlay is applied and what, if any, asphalt mixture characteristics contribute to the effect and longevity, and (3) develop a strategy for how to best monitor and manage the friction and surface characteristics of NCDOT pavements. In this research, 26 sites have been selected to measure friction and texture of new overlays; in a subset of these sites, a set of field cores were extracted. It was found there is a potential to use field cores to monitor the initial field friction and texture. It was found that the binder content (Pb) and the aggregate fraction smaller than 0.075 mm (P200) are mixture compositional factors that affect the initial friction and texture of overlays. There is evidence that friction increases after construction, and this increment can be as high as 50% of the initial value, the data in this study suggest it takes on average 4.0 million traffic repetitions for this increment to occur.
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Corporate Authors:
North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
Raleigh, NC United States 27695-7908North Carolina Department of Transportation
Research and Development Unit
Raleigh, NC United StatesFederal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Underwood, B Shane
- Castorena, Cassie
- Goenaga, Boris
- Rogers, Paul
- Publication Date: 2022-1-26
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Edition: Final Report
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 207p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Friction; Macrotexture; Overlays (Pavements); Skid resistance; Wet weather
- Geographic Terms: North Carolina
- Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01841368
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/NC/2020-11
- Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Apr 4 2022 10:41AM