VORMSUND TEST ROAD- PART II: INSTRUMENTATION

THE VORMSUND TEST ROAD WAS BUILT IN 1957-58 TO INVESTIGATE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN FOR ROADS BUILT ON FROST SUSCEPTIBLE SUBGRADES. TO ISOLATE THE EFFECTS OF THE DESIGN AND THE QUALITY OF THE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FROM OTHER EFFECTS SUCH AS METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS AND SOIL CONDITIONS, THE FOLLOWING VARIABLES WERE RECORDED: METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS, THERMAL REGIME, GROUND WATER CONDITIONS, FROST HEAVE, BEARING CAPACITY, FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT CONDITIONS AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS. THIS PART OF THE REPORT DESCRIBES THE VARIOUS MEASURING DEVICES AND INSTRUMENTS USED. THE TRAFFIC VOLUME WAS RECORDED FIRST BY PNEUMATIC DETECTORS, LATER BY AN INDUCTIVE DETECTOR ENABLING RECORDINGS TO BE MADE UNAFFECTED BY SNOW CLEARING EQUIPMENT AND VEHICLES WITH SNOW CHAINS. AXLE LOADS WERE RECORDED BY MANUAL WEIGHING DURING THE SPRING THAW PERIOD. A METEOROLOGICAL STATION WAS ESTABLISHED AT THE SITE OF THE TEST ROAD FOR RECORDING CONVENTIONAL WEATHER DATA. CONSIDERABLE EFFORTS WERE MADE TO OBTAIN A COMPLETE RECORD OF THE THERMAL REGIME, WITH SPECIAL INTEREST FOCUSED ON THE DEPTH OF FREEZING AND THAWING, USING BOTH PLATINUM RESISTANCE THERMOMETERS AND SPECIAL ELECTRICAL FROST INDICATORS. VARIATIONS IN THE GROUND WATER TABLE WERE RECORDED BY PIEZOMETERS AND SPECIAL PRESSURE CELLS WERE INSTALLED IN ORDER TO MEASURE PORE PRESSURES DURING THE SPRING THAW PERIOD. FROST HEAVE WAS OBSERVED BY ACCURATE LEVELLING OF A SERIES OF LEVELLING BOLTS IN THE PAVEMENT SURFACE. THE WATER CONTENT OF THE MATERIALS IN THE PAVEMENT AND THE SUBSOIL WAS CHECKED BY SAMPLING, EITHER USING TEST PITS, OR A SPECIAL SPLIT SPOON SAMPLER DEVELOPED FOR SAMPLING FROZEN SOILS. THE BEARING CAPACITY WAS MEASURED BY PLATE BEARING TESTS AND BENKELMAN BEAM. SEVERAL METHODS WERE USED FOR OBTAINING A RECORD OF THE CONDITION OF THE PAVEMENT, INCLUDING TWO TYPES OF LONGITUDINAL PROFILOMETERS. A TRANSVERSE PROFILOGRAPH WAS ALSO DEVELOPED TOGETHER WITH A PHOTOTECHNIQUE TO OBTAIN A PRECISE RECORDING OF PAVEMENT CRACKING. /TRRL/

• Authors:
  • NORDAL, R S
• Publication Date: 1972-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: p. 7-38
• Serial:
  • Statens Vegvesen Veglab, Oslo /Norway/
  • Issue Number: 40

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bituminous pavements; Frost heaving; Frost susceptibility; Grouting; Highway law; Instrumentation; Law uniformity; Meteorology; Properties of materials; Soils; Subgrade (Pavements); Thermal properties
• Uncontrolled Terms: Soil properties
• Old TRIS Terms: Frost heave; Highway law uniformity
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207673
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL)
• Report/Paper Numbers: R&d Rpt
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 31 1974 12:00AM