Evaluation of Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies on Route 165 and Prediction Performance

Author

Kathleen Wilson, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Date of Award

2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Civil and Environmental Engineering

Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

First Advisor

K. Wayne Lee

Abstract

Many roads in Rhode Island are coming to their intended design life and are now considered in poor condition. Significant number of roads with severe deterioration is being rehabilitated through full depth reclamations (FDR) with various additives. FDR can rejuvenate subbase and pavement structures. Route 165 in Exeter, Rhode Island, was selected as a test road with four different treatments and a control. The road had severe pavement distresses such as alligator cracking, pot holes, shoving and raveling and was not a candidate for a resurfacing. The road had a FDR in 2013 which included a control section, three test sections with additives which consisted of calcium chloride, asphalt emulsion, and Portland cement, and a geo-grid section. Triaxial testing was performed on the subbase materials and subgrade soils before and after the FDR treatments to determine the resilient modulus. The results of the material testing were used to predict the performance of each of the test sections by using AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design software.

The 200 mm (8.0 in.) rehabilitated base/subbase layer was covered with 62.5 mm (2.5 in.) Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) with Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) additive base and 50 mm (2 in.) surface. The maximum sizes of base and surface aggregate were 19 mm (3/4 in.) and 12.5 mm (1/2 in.), respectively. Properties of HMA mixtures with WMA additives including dynamic modulus were determined as input parameters and for further analysis.

Of the five test sections, it was predicted that the pavement with the FDR layer stabilized with Portland cement would perform the best overall. Next is calcium chloride followed by the control (no additive), geo-grid and asphalt emulsion.

A condition survey was conducted in 2015 winter, but there was no surface distresses found on any of the five test sections. A plan for long term performance evaluation has been developed, and an optimal strategy has been recommended, i.e., predicting performances before rehabilitating any broken roads.

Recommended Citation

Wilson, Kathleen, "Evaluation of Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies on Route 165 and Prediction Performance" (2016). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 463.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/463