CUMULATIVE CHANGES IN RIGID PAVEMENTS WITH AGE IN SERVICE

AN ANALYSIS IS PRESENTED OF SOME 6,000 MI OF PAVEMENT PROFILE OBTAINED BY THE MICHIGAN PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE STUDY IN THE 3-YEAR PERIOD OF 1958-59-60. THIS MILEAGE ON THE MICHIGAN STATE TRUNKLINES CONSISTS LARGELY OF REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENT WITH SERVICE PERIODS OF UP TO 35 YEARS, UNDER A CONSIDERABLE RANGE OF TRAFFIC INTENSITY, SOIL CONDITIONS, AND CLIMATIC ENVIRONMENT. EMPHASIS IS GIVEN TO PAVEMENT CHANGES OVER LONG PERIODS OF TIME, BUT DATA ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON A NUMBER OF SPECIAL FEATURES BRACKETING MICHIGAN DESIGN CONDITIONS. PROCEDURES DEVELOPED FOR EVALUATING PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE ARE BASED ON TWO BASIC CRITERIA FOR MEASURING PAVEMENT CHANGE. THE FIRST, OR ROUGHNESS INDEX, IS RIDING QUALITY BASED ON PAVEMENT PROFILES AND RECORDED IN INCHES OF VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT PER MILE. THE SECOND IS STRUCTURAL CONTINUITY, BASED ON THE CRACKING PATTERN, EXPRESSED AS A CONTINUITY RATIO, AND DEFINED AS THE RATIO OF UNCRACKED SLAB LENGTH TO AN ASSUMED SLAB LENGTH OF 15 FT. BOTH OF THESE MEASURES ARE RECORDED ON PAVEMENT CONDITION SURVEYS. THE DATA AFFORD SIGNIFICANT COMPARISONS BETWEEN CURRENT DESIGN FOR YEAR-ROUND SERVICE WITHOUT SEASONAL LOAD LIMITATIONS, AND OLDER ROADS CONSIDERED INADEQUATE FOR PRESENT DAY TRAFFIC. THE PAVEMENT STUDY INCLUDES PLAIN CONCRETE, REINFORCED CONCRETE OF CONVENTIONAL DESIGN AND JOINT SPACING, AND AN EXPERIMENTAL PROJECT WITH CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT. THE DOMINANT EFFECTS OF SOIL CONDITIONS, FROST ACTION, DRAINAGE, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE REVEALED ON CERTAIN PROJECTS WHERE WIDER VARIATION IN THESE CONDITIONS HAS OCCURRED. CONSTRUCTION CONTROL IS REVEALED AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN RIDING QUALITY, WITH BUILT-IN ROUGHNESS VARYING THROUGH WIDE LIMITS. SUBGRADE PREPARATION IS ALSO FOUND TO BE AN IMPORTANT INFLUENCE ON INITIAL RIDING QUALITY AND SUBSEQUENT PERFORMANCE. DIFFERENTIALS IN PERFORMANCE BETWEEN THE TRAFFIC LANE AND THE PASSING LANE OCCUR ON CERTAIN PROJECTS, WHEREAS ON OTHERS THERE IS NO APPARENT EFFECT OF LOAD APPLICATION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/328/328-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 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:
  • Housel, William S
• Conference:
  • 41st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 1962-1-8 to 1962-1-12
• Publication Date: 1962

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 1-23
• Monograph Title: Pavement roughness: measuring technique and changes
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 328
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate; Concrete pavements; Construction management; Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Drainage; Frost action; Pavement layers; Pavement performance; Reinforced concrete pavements; Riding qualities; Rigid pavements; Roughness coefficient; Soil stabilization; Soils; Subgrade (Pavements); Traffic density
• Uncontrolled Terms: Continuity; Pavement structure; Soil conditions
• Old TRIS Terms: Construction control; Subgrade treatments
• Subject Areas: Construction; Geotechnology; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00206759
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Aug 5 1994 12:00AM