A new method of testing low-temperature cracking in asphalt pavement shows promise for design, quality control and quality assurance. Test results produced by the new method, which is faster and less expensive than the previous method, match well with results from the older method.
Continue reading Evaluating Cracking Resistance Test Methods for Asphalt PavementsTag Archives: pavement
Research Pays Off Webinar Series: Determining Pavement Design Criteria for Recycled Aggregate Base and Large Stone Subbase
The National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) is hosting “Research Pays Off: Determining Pavement Design Criteria for Recycled Aggregate Base and Large Stone Subbase” on April 20 at 10 a.m. CST, presented by Bora Cetin, Ph.D., Michigan State University and Raul Velasquez, Ph.D., P.E., Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Continue reading Research Pays Off Webinar Series: Determining Pavement Design Criteria for Recycled Aggregate Base and Large Stone Subbase
New Project: Have Minnesota’s Warmer Winters Increased the Number of Freeze Thaw Cycles?
Minnesota is experiencing warmer winters and an increase in freeze-thaw events may negatively impact pavement systems. However, the impacts of these recent climate changes on freeze-thaw cycles have not been well studied.
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Pavement Preservation Techniques for Local Agencies
Cities and counties need affordable pavement preservation treatments, but preservation strategies are often geared towards higher-volume roads. The Minnesota Local Road Research Board has developed new guidance on five lower-cost treatments that is more applicable to local agencies and can be used to preserve pavements based on the type and severity of pavement distress.
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High-Density Asphalt Pavement Mixtures Viable with local Aggregates
Researchers developed sophisticated models for high-density asphalt pavement mixtures. After calibrating the model to experimental data available from 5 percent air void asphalt mixtures, the research team conducted tests on three Minnesota mixtures to further refine the model. A Phase II study will develop multiple high-density mix designs for Minnesota applications.
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Recycling Asphalt Pavement Offers Strong Alternative to New Aggregate Base
In a newly completed study, researchers found that stabilized full-depth reclamation has produced stronger roads for commercial loads in Minnesota, and the method shows promise for uses in rural agricultural areas. How much greater the strength gained with each stabilizing agent is better understood, though not conclusively.
Continue reading Recycling Asphalt Pavement Offers Strong Alternative to New Aggregate Base
Rout-and-Seal Offers Slight Cost–Benefit Over Clean-and-Seal Repairs
In a recently completed study, Minnesota researchers compare the performance and cost-benefit of the clean-and-seal versus rout-and-seal techniques for repairing asphalt pavement cracks.
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Modeling Demonstrates Benefit of Geogrid-Reinforced Aggregate Base
Improved modeling of geogrid for use with MnDOT’s pavement design software, MnPAVE Flexible, will allow pavement designers to simulate field tests of stiffness and resiliency in pavements over bases with and without geogrid. MnDOT is using modeling results from a recent study to develop a design input that quantifies the benefit of geogrid in terms of pavement service life and aggregate thickness.
“This innovative study will be especially beneficial for designs in areas with poor subgrade. We worked closely with the geogrid manufacturer to develop codes that accurately simulate geogrid behavior in a pavement,” said Bruce Tanquist, Pavement Computer Applications Engineer, MnDOT Office of Pavement Design.
What Was the Need?
Many highways in Minnesota are built upon soft subgrades. These weak subgrades lower the roadway pavement life. In the past, timber and cement have been used to stiffen pavement foundations with mixed success. However, for the last 20 years, geogrids have been shown to be a beneficial and cost-effective method to stiffen the existing pavement structure.
Geogrid is a stiff polymer webbing with apertures that interlock with aggregate in the base. The material is placed within the new or reclaimed aggregate base, usually two-thirds the distance from the top of the base. After the remaining aggregate is placed, the road is paved with either asphalt or concrete.
Geogrid increases the stiffness of the aggregate base layer by locking aggregate in place for improved resilience. Though the benefit of geogrid has been observed in the past, it was not quantified for pavement design purposes, and designers were not able to include the properties in their calculations when designing a pavement. Geogrid was sometimes seen as an extra expense with no calculated benefit.
A 2016 study was also tasked to quantify the benefits of geogrid in mechanistic design, but deflection testing results were inconclusive and did not support a reliable design factor for geogrid use in aggregate base.
What Was Our Goal?
MnDOT pavement designers requested a model to show how using geogrid in the roadway base impacted pavement life. Researchers used new software to evaluate geogrid behavior in different design permutations and to quantify its benefit to pavement performance using MnDOT’s pavement design software, MnPAVE Flexible.
What Did We Do?
The updated software was used to expand the geogrid modeling capability and test modeled nonreinforced and geogrid-reinforced bases. Research began by identifying geogrid parameters useful in modeling and as inputs to MnPAVE. Investigators worked with a geogrid manufacturer to specify and code the physical characteristics and properties of triaxial geogrid (with triangular-shaped apertures) used in the field for modeling.
Researchers then worked closely with a software developer to refine modeling capabilities, expanding on previous work that focused on biaxial geogrid (with rectangular-shaped apertures) to include triaxial geogrid, and to model behavior of geogrids in variable parameters for geogrid and aggregate.
Geogrid and aggregate models were tested extensively, adjusting geogrid and aggregate characteristics and simulating dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) and light weight deflectometer (LWD) tests. Researchers collected numerical modeling results on geogridand aggregate performance to use with MnPAVE design software and to develop design factors that quantify the impact of geogrid on pavement performance.
What Did We Learn?
Field testing from previous research was insufficiently detailed because it did not include specific pavement structure and subgrade conditions below each deflection-tested location. Additionally, lab testing, which evaluated geogrids by testing their behavior within 6-inch by 12-inch cylinders, did not correlate well with the dimensions and shapes of field geogrid installations.
Effective modeling aids in quantifying the benefits of geogrids. The modeling developed in this research effectively began to bridge the gap between field and lab examination by testing forces in 1-foot-square models with 4- to 12-inch aggregate thicknesses, which is more appropriate for estimating geogrid and aggregate behavior in the field.
“We were asked to quantify the benefit of geogrid. It is important to keep the aggregate layer thick for benefits like drainage, so it’s important to know that we were getting extra years of life with geogrid-reinforced aggregate base,” John Siekmeier, Research Engineer, MnDOT Office of Materials and Road Research.
New modeling capabilities allow testing of various parameters, including geogrid aperture dimensions and configurations, the thickness and shape of geogrid ribs, aggregate roughness and gradation, and moisture content. Test simulations of geogrid and aggregate configurations run for hours or days, and model a wide range of behaviors to capture reliable data from DCP and LWD tests of stiffness, resilience, and strength of bases with and without geogrids.
Test results showed that depending on moisture content and the time of year, bases reinforced with geogrids offer 1.5 to 2.5 times the resiliency under loading compared to nongeogrid-reinforced bases.
What’s Next?
Investigators are working with MnDOT designers to codify a geogrid factor in MnPAVE that determines the improved service life or the aggregate thickness equivalent that geogrid provides to aggregate bases in pavements. The geogrid factor could be incorporated early in 2019.
Further research could include comparing modeling results to LWD and DCP field test results of new pavements with geogrid-reinforced aggregate bases. Such implementation and site testing could continue with new pavement installations to collect data to confirm or calibrate geogrid design factors and geogrid modeling for MnPAVE.
This post pertains to Report 2018-30, “Performance Specification for Geogrid Reinforced Aggregate Base,” published October 2018.
Selecting Structural Synthetic Fibers for Use in Thin Concrete Overlays
Lab testing has demonstrated that structural synthetic fibers in thin concrete overlays keep cracks tight and help transfer loads across pavement slabs. A recently released research study, co-funded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, provides recommendations for selecting fiber types and dosages in pavement design.
What Was the Need?
Concrete pavements usually measure 8 to 15 inches thick. For many of these pavements, designers recommend placing dowel bars at the joints during the pour to assist the transfer of wheel load from heavy commercial and agricultural vehicles across concrete slab joints.
MnDOT has found that dowel bars are not effective in a thin concrete overlay, a 4- to 6-inch layer of concrete over an older pavement. These slabs fracture prematurely around the dowels. Adding structural fibers to concrete offers a potential solution. Used primarily to keep cracks from widening, these fibers consist of pieces of thin synthetic material—polymers, carbon fabric, even steel—mixed into the concrete batch.
Many states do not have formal standards for fiber types or characteristics, dosage rates or other specifications for their use. MnDOT currently uses the approved products list created by Illinois Department of Transportation.
Minnesota road engineers agree that fibers work well in concrete, but how well was unknown. Research was needed to determine the optimal physical characteristics of fibers, the amount that should be mixed in to the concrete, and products currently not on the approved products list that may be effective.
What Was Our Goal?
MnDOT wanted to investigate fiber performance in thin concrete overlays, specifically to help identify fibers that are most appropriate in these overlays and recommend acceptable dosage rates for mixing and placing the thin concrete. MnDOT also needed a test procedure and design recommendations or specifications for using fibers.
“This research looked at fiber performance in terms of load transfer to see if fibers can provide an alternative to dowels in thinner concrete pavements,” Maria Masten, Concrete Engineer, MnDOT Office of Materials and Road Research.
What Did We Do?
Research began with a literature search and a survey of state transportation agencies identified by the American Concrete Pavement Association as leading users of fiber-
reinforced concrete overlays.
Laboratory testing first focused on post-crack performance, relying on ASTM C1609, the nationally recognized testing standard. Investigators tested 10 fibers of various lengths, geometries and stiffness in three dosage levels in concrete, evaluating the impact of fiber properties on post-crack performance.
Testing then turned to joint performance. Researchers used four fibers from the previous lab examination and added a fifth fiber, a synthetic fiber used in MnROAD test cells in 2017, to test load transfer across cracks between sections of fiber-reinforced concrete. Together, the two lab phases tested 11 fibers in 43 concrete mixtures in over 400 samples 10 beams and 10 cylinders each of 30 fiber-reinforced concrete samples for post-crack performance, one plain concrete mix and 12 additional fiber-reinforced mixtures in joint performance testing. Analysis considered post-crack performance, crack width, fiber geometry, dosage, load transfer efficiency and residual strength.
In the final step, researchers analyzed the collected data and developed recommendations for MnDOT.
What Did We Learn?
Results confirmed that fibers help keep cracks and joints tight and improve load transfer across cracks and joints in thin concrete overlays. This research indicated synthetic fibers provide equal or better performance than steel fibers, which are expensive, heavy and difficult to mix. Dosages less than 0.25 percent fiber volume fraction of concrete mixture did not improve post-crack flexural or load transfer efficiency across the joint.
In lab mixing, longer and stiffer fibers tended to ball and mat with greater frequency than shorter fibers, though researchers developed a mixing method that reduces balling and matting. Fiber dosage, stiffness and shape significantly influenced strength. Embossed, twisted and crimped fibers outperformed straight, flat synthetic fibers; longer fibers with larger diameters outperformed shorter, smaller diameter fibers that inhibit workability.
“We studied many varieties of fibers before writing a specification for using fibers in concrete overlays. This is one step forward in understanding fiber’s contribution in concrete pavements or overlays,” Manik Barman, Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth Department of Civil Engineering.
Fiber shape had moderate influence on load transfer and displacement in joint performance testing. Dosage levels and crack width strongly affected joint performance. Overall, it was found that fibers can increase the load transfer by 30 percent and can reduce the slab displacement by 50 percent.
Researchers suggest designers use trial batches of mixtures, submitting samples to ASTM C1609 testing and selecting fibers based on joint performance results from this study. Graphs and tables from this study correlate fiber properties with post-crack flexural strength and joint performance to help guide selection and dosage.
What’s Next?
Researchers recommend fibers with high lateral stiffness and irregular cross sections in lengths between 1.5 to 2.5 inches and at dosage levels no greater than 1 percent fiber volume fraction to avoid balling, matting and unworkability of concrete mixtures. MnDOT will issue fiber requirements so manufacturers can then submit products and test results for evaluation by MnDOT in developing a new approved products list for fibers in concrete pavements.
Future research could focus on validating design recommendations in the field; establishing fresh fiber-reinforced concrete mixture parameters by running slump, air content and other tests of fresh mixes; and analyzing life-cycle costs and benefits.
This post pertains to the MNDOT and LRRB-produced Report 2018-29, “Comparison of
Performances of Structural Fibers and Development of a Specification for Using Them in
Thin Concrete Overlays,” published August 2018.
New measure allows comparison between bridge and pavement conditions
Transportation planners lack a method to directly compare bridge and road conditions. In a new MnDOT-funded study, University of Minnesota researchers have proposed a Percent Remaining Service Interval (PRSI) measure that can uniformly assess the condition of bridges and pavements, enabling planners to make the most efficient use of preservation and improvement funding.
“Both the MnDOT Bridge Office and the Materials and Road Research Office have very good management systems in place,” says Mihai Marasteanu, a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering (CEGE) and the study’s principal investigator. “There is a good potential to develop a new common metric that both offices could use.”
What Did We Do?
To begin developing this new measure, researchers conducted a literature review of current methods used in asset management and life-cycle cost analysis. The review of bridge research focused on performance measures and life expectancy assessment methods, while the study of pavement literature concentrated on performance measures as well as on the use of road service life measures.
Next, the research team, which included civil engineering bridge professor Arturo Schultz, surveyed both bridge management staff and pavement management staff from state transportation agencies. Team members then analyzed the asset management practices of MnDOT’s Office of Bridges and Structures and Office of Materials and Road Research to identify methods for assessing service lives and rehabilitation needs and to highlight the similarities and differences in approaches.
Based on the findings from the survey and analysis, researchers suggested the new method of PRSI that would serve both pavement and bridge needs and offered guidelines for the next steps in developing and implementing a unified PRSI procedure.
“Ultimately, funds for guardrail repairs are drawn from the same purse that pays to fill a pothole or repair a deck joint,” Marasteanu says. “With PRSI, planners could target average values across systems to optimize life-cycle costs and pursue an even distribution of PRSI values to make planning consistent from year to year.”
What’s Next?
In the next phase of the project, researchers will work with the pavement office to identify relevant data for calculating PRSI for pavements. “In addition, we plan to identify the time and costs required to reach the evenly distributed configuration of PRSIs necessary for planning consistency, assess how preservation activities impact funding efficiency, and calculate recommended metrics for asset sustainability,” Marasteanu says.
This article originally appeared in the Center for Transportation Studies’ Catalyst Newsletter, October 2018. The full report, published July 2018, can be accessed at “Remaining Service Life Asset Measure, Phase I,” .
