THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON THE SEASONAL VARIATION OF PAVEMENT SKID RESISTANCE

The variation of pavement skid resistance with season was determined for medium to heavily trafficked sites near the state capital cities of Australia during 1979 and 1980. Measurements were made every 14 days during this period using the British pendulum tester. Seasonal variation was observed at sites near hobart (cool, temperate climate), Melbourne (temperate) and Perth and Adelaide (mediterranean) but there was little or no variation at sites near brisbane (subtropical -summer rainfall). The frequency of raindays between consecutive skid resistance measurements divided by the mean minimum air (screen) temperature for the period was used as a crude measure of the roughening action of rain water on the surfacing aggregates. The correlation between this 'rainday' parameter and skid resistance level was examined using convoluted data for the two year period. Fairly good correlations were obtained for the sites near Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth but those for the hobart sites were only fair. Hobart was the coolest location and the rainday parameter level was never zero. Under these conditions it is probable that the surfacings never reached the fully polished condition. No correlation was obtained for the brisbane sites where variations in both skid resistance and rainday parameter were small. The surfacing aggregates at these sites will have been in the fully polished condition for most of the time. Prolonged dry periods occurred at the Melbourne, brisbane, Perth and Adelaide sites and the skid resistance levels during these was used to assess the level when the aggregate was in the fully polished condition. The precision of a skid resistance test result varied considerably from site to site and appeared to be a site characteristic rather than testing error. Sprayed seal sites where the texture depth was greater than 1.5 mm showed the highest 'within site' variation . (Author/TRRL)

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  • Accession Number: 00499039
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: ARRB
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS, ATRI
  • Created Date: Sep 30 1990 12:00AM