A NEW FIELD TEST FOR HIGHWAY SHOULDER PERMEABILITY
MANY PAVEMENT FAILURES CAN BE TRACED TO A LOSS OF SUPPORT BY THE ROADBED. THIS CONDITION IS OFTEN THE RESULT OF INADEQUATE DRAINAGE THROUGH HIGHWAY SHOULDERS THAT LOSE THEIR DESIRED PERMEABILITY WHEN WATER BECOMES TRAPPED BENEATH THE PAVEMENT. THIS PAPER PRESENTS A NEW METHOD OF TESTING THE DRAINAGE OF HIGHWAY SHOULDERS IN THE FIELD. THE TEST IS RAPID AND ENABLES THE OPERATOR TO OBSERVE VISUALLY THE ADVANCE OF A SATURATED MOISTURE FRONT THROUGHOUT A SHOULDER CROSS-SECTION BY NOTING THE LIGHTING SEQUENCE OF SMALL NEON BULBS ARRANGED IN A GRID ON A PANEL. THESE BULBS ARE ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED TO STEEL PROBES DRIVEN INTO THE SHOULDER AT INTERVALS ALONG ITS WIDTH. THE TEST AND THE EQUIPMENT WERE DEVELOPED WITH A FULL-SCALE LABORATORY MODEL OF A HIGHWAY SHOULDER, USING VARIOUS GRADATIONS AS THE SINGLE VARIABLE. SPECIAL GRAPHS WERE PLOTTED TO ENABLE AN OPERATOR TO GET A GENERAL IDEA OF THE PERMEABILITY OF THE MATERIAL IN A VERY SHORT TIME WHILE THE TEST IS IN PROGRESS. THE FIELD TESTS SHOW GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE LABORATORY DATA. FURTHER FIELD WORK IS UNDER WAY ON MAJOR HIGHWAYS IN SEVERAL PARTS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. /HRB/
- Record URL:
-
Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 41, pp 109-124, 13 FIG, 3 TAB, 9 REF, 2 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.
-
Authors:
- Maytin, I L
- Publication Date: 1962
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 41st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board, Washington, D.C., January 8-12, 1962
-
Serial:
- Highway Research Board Proceedings
- Volume: 41
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Drainage; Field tests; Permeability; Road shoulders; Testing
- Subject Areas: Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00204374
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Jan 31 1972 12:00AM