SOUTH DAKOTA FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT STUDY

THE REPORT DESCRIBES A COMPREHENSIVE STATEWIDE INVESTIGATION OF SELECTED IN-SERVICE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS. THE STUDY WAS INITIATED IN 1957 TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF GEOLOGY, SOILS, CLIMATE, TRAFFIC, AND MATERIALS ON PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE AND COST, AND TO EVALUATE THE EXISTING DESIGN METHOD. MOST OF THE DATA WAS COLLECTED PRIOR TO 1963. HOWEVER, THE PEDOLOGICAL MAPPING OF EACH PAVEMENT PROJECT INCLUDED IN THE STUDY WAS NOT CONCLUDED UNTIL 1968. THIRTY-FOUR PROJECTS, EACH HAVING ONE OF THREE DIFFERENT SURFACE COURSE TYPES AND LOCATED IN ONE OF SIX DIFFERENT MAJOR SOIL AREAS, WERE SELECTED FOR STUDY. TRAFFIC HISTORY WAS ALSO CONSIDERED. TESTING OPERATIONS INCLUDED: (1) PLATE BEARING, (2) FIELD CBR, (3) BENKELMAN BEAM, (4) BPR-TYPE ROUGHOMETER, (5) CONDITION SURVEYS, (6) THICKNESS MEASUREMENTS, (7) MATERIAL SAMPLING, AND (8) LIMITED LABORATORY TESTS OF MATERIALS. FIELD TESTING WAS GENERALLY CONDUCTED IN THE SPRING, SUMMER AND FALL OF EACH YEAR. RELATIONSHIPS DEVELOPED INCLUDE: (1) PAVEMENT STRUCTURE THICKNESS VERSUS PAVEMENT SYSTEM STRENGTH (UNIT LOAD ON 18-INCH PLATE AT 0.1-INCH GROSS DEFLECTION), (2) FIOELD CBR VERSUS PAVEMENT STRENGTH, (3) BENKELMAN BEAM DEFLECTION VERSUS PAVEMENT STRENGTH AND, (4) DEFLECTION AND STRENGTH VERSUS CONDITION RATING AND ROUGHNESS. A PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN CURVE BASED ON THESE RELATIONSHIPS AND PERTINENT TRAFFIC INFORMATION IS DEVELOPED. FINALLY, FOR EACH PROJECT, THE ORIGINAL DESIGN THICKNESS IS COMPARED WITH ACTUAL THICKNESS AND THE THICKNESS FOUND BY THE NEWLY DEVELOPED METHOD. THE REQUIRED INCREASE IN THICKNESSES RANGES FROM 0 TO 7 INCHES BUT IN 70 PERCENT OF THE CASES, IS 3 INCHES OR LESS. /FHWA/

• Corporate Authors:

  South Dakota Department of Highways

  Physical Research Section
  Pierre, SD  United States  57501

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benkelman beam; California bearing ratio; Climate; Costs; Field tests; Flexible pavements; Geology; Laboratory tests; Materials; Pavement performance; Pavements; Plate bearing test; Road meters; Soils; Surface course (Pavements); Testing; Texture; Thickness; Traffic
• Old TRIS Terms: Cbr testing
• Subject Areas: Finance; Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Operations and Traffic Management; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00206426
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 606 (56), Final Report
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 11 2003 12:00AM