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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

THE AASHO ROAD TEST HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

THE PREPARATIONS AND PLANNING FOR THE AASHO ROAD TEST AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF THIS LARGE-SCALE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROJECT ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL, AS ARE THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND FISCAL ARRANGEMENTS, THE PROJECTS' OFFICIAL PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES, INTERPRETATIONS OF OBJECTIVES, AND POSSIBLE APPLICABILITY AND LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH RESULTS. THE PROJECT SITE WAS LOCATED NORTHWEST OF OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, ABOUT 80 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHICAGO. THE TEST FACILITY WAS CONSTRUCTED ALONG THE ALIGNMENT OF INTERSTATE ROUTE 80. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE ROAD TEST AREA IS LEVELED TO GENTLY UNDULATING, WITH ELEVATIONS VARYING FROM 605 TO 635 FT ABOVE SEA LEVEL. DRAINAGE IS PROVIDED BY SEVERAL SMALL CREEKS WHICH DRAIN INTO THE ILLINOIS RIVER. SURFACE DRAINAGE IS GENERALLY SLOW. FROM THE MANY PAVEMENT DESIGN VARIABLES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, SURFACING THICKNESS, BASE THICKNESS AND SUB-BASE THICKNESS WERE SELECTED AS PRINCIPLE DESIGN VARIABLES IN EACH FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT TANGENT, AND PAVEMENT REINFORCING, PAVEMENT THICKNESS, AND SUB-BASE THICKNESS AS PRINCIPLE DESIGN VARIABLES IN EACH RIGID PAVEMENT TANGENT. SPECIAL EXPERIMENTS IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT TANGENTS INTRODUCED THREE OTHER DESIGN VARIABLES: BASE TYPE, BITUMINOUS SURFACE TREATMENT, AND SHOULDER PAVING. SPECIAL EXPERIMENTS IN RIGID PAVEMENT TANGENTS ALSO INTRODUCED SHOULDER PAVING AS A DESIGN VARIABLE. THE BITUMINOUS CONCRETE SURFACE COURSE ON FLEXIBLE TANGENTS WAS A MIXTURE OF DENSE-GRADED CRUSHED LIMESTONE AGGREGATE, 3/4-IN. MAXIMUM SIZE DESIGNED AT 5.4 PERCENT OF 85-100 PENETRATION GRADE PAVING ASPHALT. THE BITUMINOUS CONCRETE BINDER COURSE WAS A MIXTURE OF DENSE- GRADED CRUSHED LIMESTONES, 1-IN. MAXIMUM SIZE DESIGNED AT 4.5 PERCENT OF 85-100 PENETRATION GRADE PAVING ASPHALT. THE FOUR TYPES OF BASE MATERIALS USED IN THE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT SPECIAL STUDIES INCLUDED THE CRUSHED LIMESTONE BASE MATERIAL, A WELL-GRADED UNCRUSHED GRAVEL, A PLANT-MIXED BITUMINOUS-TREATED BASE CONSISTING OF THE SUBBASE MATERIAL WITH A DESIGNED ASPHALT CONTENT OF 5.2 PERCENT OF 85-100 PENETRATION GRADE PAVING ASPHALT, AND A CEMENT-TREATED BASE CONSISTING OF THE SUB-BASE MATERIALS COMBINED IN A CONCRETE MIXER WITH 4 PERCENT OF TYPE 1 PORTLAND CEMENT. THE OVER-ALL DESIGN OF THE EXPERIMENTS ON FLEXIBLE AND RIGID PAVEMENTS AND CERTAIN TYPES OF BRIDGE SPANS ARE DISCUSSED AND THE RATIONALE GIVEN FOR THE MEASUREMENTS PROGRAMS AND THE PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS OF DATA. THE EXPERIMENTS AND PROCEDURES FOLLOWED IN STUDYING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE FLEXIBLE AND RIGID PAVEMENTS, AS WELL AS THE TEST BRIDGE SPANS ARE OUTLINED IN DETAIL.

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    • Part A, 56 PP, 45 FIG, 18, TAB, 1 APP 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
  • Publication Date: 1961

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  • Accession Number: 00206773
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: May 21 1994 12:00AM