EVALUATION OF APPLICABILITY OF AASHO ROAD TEST RESULTS TO CORPS OF ENGINEERS FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CRITERIA

VARIOUS APPROACHES WERE INVESTIGATED IN AN EFFORT TO USE RESULTS OF THE AASHO ROAD TEST COMPLETED IN 1961 TO VALIDATE OR MODIFY PRESENT CORPS OF ENGINEERS /CE/ FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CRITERIA. THE AASHO ROAD TEST RESULTS ARE NOT DIRECTLY APPLICABLE FOR USE IN IMPROVING EXISTING CE DESIGN CRITERIA BECAUSE SUFFICIENT DATA WERE NOT OBTAINED DURING APPLICATION OF TEST TRAFFIC TO DETERMINE MATERIAL STRENGTH CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY AT FAILURE. THE CE FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN CRITERIA MAKE PRIME USE OF STRENGTH /CBR/ MEASUREMENTS AND INCLUDE SUCH MAJOR FACTORS AS LOAD, LOAD REPETITIONS, AND FAILURE CRITERIA AS WELL AS TIRE PRESSURE AND MULTIPLEWHEEL SPACING. SINCE TIRE PRESSURE AND WHEEL SPACING VARIABLES WERE NOT TREATED IN THE AASHO ROAD TEST, IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO USE ROAD TEST RESULTS DIRECTLY FOR CE DESIGN METHODS IN WHICH TREATMENT OF THESE VARIABLES IS ESSENTIAL. THE PRESENT SERVICEABILITY INDEX /PSI/ METHOD OF EVALUATING PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE, DEVELOPED BY THE AASHO ROAD TEST STAFF, APPEARS TO HAVE CONSIDERABLE MERIT IN QUANTITATIVELY ASSESSING PAVEMENT CONDITION. HOWEVER, THE SPECIFIC VARIABLES FOR WHICH OBJECTIVE MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN FOR USE IN THIS METHOD OF EVALUATION ARE NOT THOSE NORMALLY CONSIDERED IN PAVEMENT DESIGN. THE PSI METHOD ALSO MAKES NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN DEFICIENCIES WHICH ARE RAPIDLY STABILIZING IN PAVEMENT STRUCTURE AND PROGRESSIVE DEFICIENCIES WHICH ARE ONLY CORRECTABLE BY MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION. THE VARIOUS APPROACHES FOLLOWED IN ATTEMPTING TO RELATE THE PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR REPRESENTED BY THE AASHO ROAD TEST RESULTS TO THE PATTERN INHERENT IN THE CE DESIGN PROCEDURES ARE EXPLAINED AND COMPARISONS ARE SHOWN. MATHEMATICAL PATTERNS SEEM TO BE STRONGLY PARALLEL, BUT THE SPECIFIC FIELD MEASUREMENTS NEEDED TO DRAW A DIRECT COMPARISON ARE LACKING. OTHER CORRELATIONS ATTEMPTED REQUIRED ASSUMPTIONS TO BE MADE BECAUSE THE SPECIFIC INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR THE CORRELATION WAS NOT AVAILABLE. IN EACH CASE, GOOD CORRELATIONS WERE POSSIBLE WITH PROPER ASSUMPTIONS, BUT THE DEGREE OF AGREEMENT WAS LARGELY DEPENDENT ON THE ASSUMPTION MADE. /AUTHUR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Preprint VoL, PP 132-148, 10 FIG, 2 TAB, 13 REF, 2 APP
• Authors:
  • Turnbull, W J
  • Ahlvin, R G
  • Brown, D N
• Conference:
  • Intl Conf Struct Design Asphalt Pvmts
• Publication Date: 1967-1

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: California bearing ratio; Design; Field tests; Flexible pavements; Pavement design; Serviceability; Testing
• Identifier Terms: AASHO Road Test
• Uncontrolled Terms: Design criteria; Field measurements; Serviceability Index
• Old TRIS Terms: Cbr testing
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205484
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 1 1994 12:00AM