The use of geosynthetics as reinforcement for the base layer of flexible pavement systems has grown steadily over the past thirty years. In spite of the evidence that geosynthetic reinforcements can lead to improved pavement performance, the specific conditions or mechanisms that enable and govern the reinforcement are unclear, largely remaining unidentified and unmeasured. The appropriate selection of design parameters for geosynthetics is complicated by the difficulty in associating their relevant properties to the improved pavement performance. In addition, pavement structures deteriorate under the combined effects of traffic loading and environmental conditions, such as moisture changes. However, these factors have not been studied together in the evaluation of the overall performance of pavement systems. Consequently, this research focused on the assessment of the effect of geosynthetics on the pavement structural section's ability to support traffic loads and to resist environmental changes. Accordingly, the primary objectives of this research were: (i) to determine the governing mechanisms and relevant properties of geosynthetics that contribute to the enhanced performance of pavement systems; (ii) to develop appropriate analytical, laboratory and field methods that are capable of quantifying the above properties for geosynthetics; and (iii) to enable the prediction of pavement performance depending on the various types of geosynthetics used. To fulfill these three objectives, an evaluative, laboratory and field study was performed. The improved performance of pavements due to addition of geosynthetics was attributed to the ability of geosynthetics to laterally restrain the base course material, thereby providing a confinement effect to the pavement. A parameter to quantify the soil-geosynthetic interaction at low displacement magnitudes based on the solution of an analytical model for geosynthetics confined in pullout box was proposed. The pullout tests were then conducted on various geosynthetics to obtain the proposed parameter for various geosynthetics. The quantitative magnitude of the parameter value from the laboratory tests was compared with the qualitative performance observed in the field test sections. Overall, a good agreement was obtained between the laboratory and field results, thereby providing confidence in the ability of the proposed analytical model to predict the governing mechanism for geosynthetic reinforced pavements. / text

Automated technologies can be beneficial for collecting data on the condition of pavements. As opposed to a traditional manual survey of the road, automated data collection can provide a safer alternative that is objective, repeatable, and consistent, while traveling at highway speeds. Though the automated method is preferred, it still needs to be reliable enough to accurately model the current pavement performance. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated a project to allow an independent assessment of the accuracy and repeatability of new automated distress data measurements. In this study, 20 550-ft. pavement sections were tested with automated data collection technologies. The sections were located in Austin and Waco Districts. The accuracy and repeatability was evaluated for cracking and other distress measurements, cross slope measurements, and texture measurements. Known manual methods were used as a reference, and a 3D system developed by TxDOT was compared with three systems of other vendors (Dynatest, Fugro, and Waylink-OSU). With the data provided for the texture and cross slope, an additional investigation was done to evaluate hydroplaning potential. This thesis reports in the latter investigation. / text

É fato que a crescente urbanização e a conseqüente impermeabilização do solo são alguns dos principais fatores que interferem no escoamento das águas de chuva. Isso se retrata na aceleração do escoamento, com a diminuição dos tempos de trânsito e aumento dos picos de vazão. É cada vez mais freqüente a ocorrência de inundações em áreas que anteriormente não eram atingidas. A impermeabilização de grandes áreas que possam vir a interferir nas condições hidrológicas de determinada região deve ser analisada pelos órgãos fiscalizadores. O meio técnico e acadêmico se vê frente a frente com o desafio de pesquisar, estudar, analisar e propor técnicas que possam atenuar os efeitos causados pelas chuvas em áreas densamente urbanizadas. Este trabalho intenciona dar uma contribuição à drenagem urbana e vem propor a adoção de uma técnica compensatória que se mostrou muito eficiente. Trata-se do pavimento permeável do tipo sem infiltração no solo. Este dispositivo foi implantado de maneira convencional em um estacionamento na Universidade de São Paulo e contou com o suporte financeiro da Prefeitura do Município de São Paulo. Foram monitorados dois tipos de estrutura com revestimentos de BCP e CPA, durante o período de 6 meses. A instrumentação constou de uma estação pluviométrica e 4 sensores de nível instalados em caixas coletoras dotadas de vertedouros. Durante a pesquisa foi desenvolvido um modelo matemático para validação do modelo físico. Ao final dos estudos concluiu-se que o desempenho do pavimento permeável para os dois tipos de estruturas monitoradas resultou em amortecimento da vazão afluente entre 28% e 87% no BCP e 56% e 85% no CPA. Portanto, esse tipo de dispositivo se mostrou muito eficiente. / The increasing urbanization and the consequent imperviousness of the soil are the main factors that may interfere with the flow of stormwater. It causes the accelerating of the flow with the decrease in transit times and the increase of peak flows. The occurrence of flooding in areas not previously affected is getting more frequently. The imperviousness of large areas that may interfere with the hydrological conditions of a region should be analyzed by the technicians. The technicians and academics find themselves face to face with the challenge of researching, studying, analyzing and proposing techniques that can mitigate the effects caused by rain in densely urbanized areas. This study intends to give a contribution to the urban drainage and is proposing the adoption of a compensatory technique that has proved very efficient. This is the type of permeable pavement without infiltration into the soil. This device was implanted in a conventional way in a parking lot at the University of Sao Paulo with the financial support of the Sao Paulo City Hall. During 6 months two types of permeable pavements covered with permeable interlocking concrete pavement and porous pavement were monitored. The instrumentation consisted of a rain collector and four level sensors installed in collection boxes provided with spillways. During the research it was developed a mathematical model to validate the physical model. At the end of the studies it was concluded that the performance of permeable pavement for the two types of structures monitored resulted in weakening of flow between 28% and 87% in the permeable interlocking concrete pavement and 56% and 85% in the porous pavement. Therefore, this type of device was very effective.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo pesquisar a tipologia e as possíveis causas da ocorrência das patologias em pavimentos de concreto armado, bem como verificar a aplicabilidade e analisar criticamente os métodos de avaliação do estado funcional destes pavimentos. São apresentados os tipos e os graus de severidade das patologias descritas no método do United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), bem como os métodos de avaliação da superfície dos pavimentos de concreto, dentre eles, o índice internacional de irregularidade (International Roughness Index - IRI), o quociente de irregularidade (QI), o valor da serventia atual (VSA) e a avaliação subjetiva e objetiva do índice de condição do pavimento (ICP). A aplicação prática se concentrou nos estudos de caso de quatro pavimentos de concreto armado, sendo um pavimento urbano e três pavimentos industriais, realizando a avaliação detalhada das patologias existentes nos pavimentos em serviço, com posterior cálculo do valor do ICP. Foi avaliada também a irregularidade longitudinal (IRI), com um perfilômetro inercial, no estudo de caso do pavimento urbano, com o intuito de verificar se este método apresenta correlação com o critério do ICP para o caso dos pavimentos de concreto armado como indicador de desempenho. Os levantamentos permitiram verificar valores intermediários de ICP para os pavimentos analisados e que tal situação é decorrente principalmente de falhas construtivas. Os defeitos catalogados no manual do ICP são suficientes para descrição das patologias encontradas durante os levantamentos. Com o auxílio de uma maior quantidade de levantamentos seria possível estabelecer relações entre ICP e IRI sendo que a relação encontrada com base no universo estudado foi fraca, embora aponte uma tendência. O trabalho enfatiza o estudo e a aplicabilidade do método de avaliação objetiva do USACE que é amplamente empregado nos E.U.A. Por fim discute possível relação entre os valores do ICP e do IRI no caso estudado. / This research aimed to verify types and possible causes for the occurrence of distresses in reinforced concrete pavements as well as to verify the applicability and critically examine the methods for assessment of the functional condition for such pavements. It is presented the distresses types and its severity levels described by the method of the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well as the methods for surface evaluation of concrete pavements, including the international roughness index (IRI), the quarter of car index (QI), the present serviceability ratio (PSR) and subjective and objective evaluation of the pavement condition index (PCI). The practice study focused in four cases of reinforced concrete pavements, an urban pavement and three industrials floors, consisting on detailed field evaluation of distresses with subsequent determination of PCI for several pavement sections. It was carried out a field measurement of IRI using an inertial profiler for the case of urban pavement, in order to verify whether this method could reflect the actual the performance of reinforced pavement concrete. The performed surveys allowed understanding that most of cases with low PCI values are due to constructive fails. The list of distresses suggested by PCI manual is suffice to identify the distresses found out during the surveys. However it shall be required a large amount of field surveys in order to define better correlation between PCI and IRI in view of the current results.

É fato que a crescente urbanização e a conseqüente impermeabilização do solo são alguns dos principais fatores que interferem no escoamento das águas de chuva. Isso se retrata na aceleração do escoamento, com a diminuição dos tempos de trânsito e aumento dos picos de vazão. É cada vez mais freqüente a ocorrência de inundações em áreas que anteriormente não eram atingidas. A impermeabilização de grandes áreas que possam vir a interferir nas condições hidrológicas de determinada região deve ser analisada pelos órgãos fiscalizadores. O meio técnico e acadêmico se vê frente a frente com o desafio de pesquisar, estudar, analisar e propor técnicas que possam atenuar os efeitos causados pelas chuvas em áreas densamente urbanizadas. Este trabalho intenciona dar uma contribuição à drenagem urbana e vem propor a adoção de uma técnica compensatória que se mostrou muito eficiente. Trata-se do pavimento permeável do tipo sem infiltração no solo. Este dispositivo foi implantado de maneira convencional em um estacionamento na Universidade de São Paulo e contou com o suporte financeiro da Prefeitura do Município de São Paulo. Foram monitorados dois tipos de estrutura com revestimentos de BCP e CPA, durante o período de 6 meses. A instrumentação constou de uma estação pluviométrica e 4 sensores de nível instalados em caixas coletoras dotadas de vertedouros. Durante a pesquisa foi desenvolvido um modelo matemático para validação do modelo físico. Ao final dos estudos concluiu-se que o desempenho do pavimento permeável para os dois tipos de estruturas monitoradas resultou em amortecimento da vazão afluente entre 28% e 87% no BCP e 56% e 85% no CPA. Portanto, esse tipo de dispositivo se mostrou muito eficiente. / The increasing urbanization and the consequent imperviousness of the soil are the main factors that may interfere with the flow of stormwater. It causes the accelerating of the flow with the decrease in transit times and the increase of peak flows. The occurrence of flooding in areas not previously affected is getting more frequently. The imperviousness of large areas that may interfere with the hydrological conditions of a region should be analyzed by the technicians. The technicians and academics find themselves face to face with the challenge of researching, studying, analyzing and proposing techniques that can mitigate the effects caused by rain in densely urbanized areas. This study intends to give a contribution to the urban drainage and is proposing the adoption of a compensatory technique that has proved very efficient. This is the type of permeable pavement without infiltration into the soil. This device was implanted in a conventional way in a parking lot at the University of Sao Paulo with the financial support of the Sao Paulo City Hall. During 6 months two types of permeable pavements covered with permeable interlocking concrete pavement and porous pavement were monitored. The instrumentation consisted of a rain collector and four level sensors installed in collection boxes provided with spillways. During the research it was developed a mathematical model to validate the physical model. At the end of the studies it was concluded that the performance of permeable pavement for the two types of structures monitored resulted in weakening of flow between 28% and 87% in the permeable interlocking concrete pavement and 56% and 85% in the porous pavement. Therefore, this type of device was very effective.

Pavement smoothness has become a standard measure of pavement quality. Transportation agencies strive to build and maintain smoother pavements. Smooth roads provide comfort while riding, minimize vehicular wear and tear and increase pavement life. A user perceives smoothness of a pavement based on the ride quality, which is severely affected by presence of defects on pavement surface. Defects identified after construction are corrected as per smoothness specifications prescribed by respective transportation agencies. The effectiveness of any method used to determine defect locations depends on the decrease in roughness obtained on correction of defects. Following the above line of thought a method that detects defects by comparing original profile to a smoothened profile will be more effective in identifying defect locations that cause roughness in pavements. This research report proposes a methodology to detect defect locations on pavement surface using profile data collected on pavements. The approach presents a method of obtaining a smoothened profile from the original profile to help identify defect locations based on deviations of the original profile from the smoothened one. Defect areas will have a higher deviation from the smoothened profile as compared to smooth areas. The verification of the defects identified by this approach is carried out by determining the decrease in roughness after removal of the identified defects from profile. A roughness statistic is used to do the same. The approach is illustrated using profile data collected on in-service pavement sections.

Pervious concrete pavement has the capacity to perform as two types of infrastructure: a pavement; and a stormwater management solution. It is a low impact development as it does not alter the natural hydrological cycle when implemented, unlike a conventional impermeable pavement. This research represents some of the initial investigations into pervious concrete pavement in Canada. The two research hypotheses of this research were the following: 1. Pervious concrete pavement can be successfully planned, designed, constructed and maintained in Canada for successful performance based on surface evaluations of permeability rate and surface condition. 2. Verification that the subsurface drainage capabilities of pervious concrete pavement are as described in literature and can be quantified using instrumentation. Through monitoring of the design, construction, performance and maintenance of five field sites across Canada and various laboratory pavement slabs, the behaviour of pervious concrete pavement in freeze-thaw conditions has been evaluated. This thesis presents the findings from the various phases of the life cycle of pervious concrete pavement: planning; design; construction; and maintenance. An interpretation of the performance of pervious concrete pavement both from the perspective of the surface and subsurface is included. The various field sites led to pervious concrete being used in areas exposed to static or parked traffic and areas with slow moving traffic. At the two sites that included static and slow moving traffic, the permeability performance was better in the areas of static traffic than those with moving traffic. Each of the field sites had a unique mix design and some had multiple variations of one basic mix design. The relationship between the void content and hardened density of the pervious concrete cores was linear with none of the cores being visually identified as outliers. Substantial deterioration in pavement structure performance was identified at one site. Other field sites showed changes in structural capacity over the monitoring timeline. However, no locations of substantial decreases in structural capacity were identified. The surface condition of the sites over the analysis period indicated that compaction to the surface during construction was helpful in constructing a quality pavement. The results of the project indicated that pervious concrete will crack when joints are not included and may also crack similarly to conventional impermeable concrete pavements if joints are spaced too widely or do not match joints of adjacent pavement. Washing the pervious concrete pavement surface with a large hose or garden hose was found to be the most effective in improving permeability across a site and also in increasing the permeability of the pervious concrete. The initial permeability of the pervious concrete pavement was found to influence future performance. Freeze-thaw cycling and moisture were found to alter the internal structure of pervious concrete. However, did not generally lead to surface distress development. The application of sand as a winter maintenance method decreased the permeability, as did the use of a salt solution. However, neither winter maintenance method led to the permeability rates of laboratory slabs dropping below an acceptable level. All three slabs loaded with a salt solution deteriorated to a point where the slabs had failed. The initial permeability of the field sites proved to be important and although some sites started with what appeared to be very high permeability rates, these sites were successful in the multiple year evaluation in maintaining adequate permeability rates. The types of surface distresses that developed in the cores and slabs in the laboratory were generally not substantially worse at the field sites, suggesting that pedestrian and vehicle traffic do not necessarily escalate distresses caused by the Canadian climate and corresponding winter activities. The subsurface drainage that was quantified by the instrumentation included in three field sites confirmed observations from the surface of the pavement and exceeded other expectations. Two field sites exhibited limited drainage capabilities on the surface of the pervious concrete pavement, one shortly after construction, and the other within a year following construction. The subsurface analysis quantified and confirmed that moisture was not able to drain completely vertically through the pavement structures at these two sites due to the limited access in the pervious concrete pavement surface. In comparison, the subsurface drainage at another site surpassed the assumed behaviour of pervious concrete pavement structures. The pavement structure in general at this site was highly permeable and this was identified as moisture was not observed to be collecting in the bottom of the storage base layer at any time or for any period of time. The successful overall drainage performance of this site demonstrates the ability to effectively use pervious concrete pavement in Canada.

Pavement management is one of the primary responsibilities for departments of transportation and other municipalities across the country. Efficient and proper use of taxpayer dollars to preserve and improve the existing transportation system has never been more important due to the current fiscal environment. Agencies use pavement management systems to store data describing the state of the network. This information is often used to help make decisions regarding the location of pavement preservation actions. There is often a discrepancy between the need estimates of network-level pavement management systems and where and how pavement preservation and improvement dollars are actually spent (i.e., actual pavement preservation and improvement projects). This research focuses on evaluating the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Pavement Management Information System (PMIS) to assess the agreement between its need estimates and actual construction projects at the district level. The research revealed there is little agreement between the output of PMIS’s Needs Estimate tool and actual construction projects. Possible reasons for this disagreement include the inability of PMIS’s Needs Estimates to consider the decision makers preferences and priorities, and also its inability to consider multiple years of condition data simultaneously. Through the use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the research was able to capture the effect of several variables on the decision making process. Using this method, pavement project suggestions were created that more closely matched actual projects than what the current Needs Estimate tool suggests. The projects selected using the new method were then tested against actual construction within three counties of the Bryan district. The new method closely matches actual preservation decisions made by the district within these three counties.

Chip seals are a pavement surface treatment used for maintaining asphalt concrete pavements. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 14-17 was performed to produce a national Chip Seal Manual which would consolidate the best chip seal engineering practices. A subcontract to NCHRP Project 14-17 performed at Texas A&M University was the basis for this thesis. It included the following tasks: investigation of a testing and grading system for grading asphalt binder residues from chip seal emulsions; and investigation of texture measurement methods for assessing existing pavement macrotexture before a chip seal is placed. The performance graded (PG) asphalt binder specification, which was developed to characterize asphalt binder properties related to the performance of hot mix asphalt concrete in pavements, cannot be directly applied to asphalt binders or emulsion residues for use in chip seals. Therefore, the surface performance graded (SPG) specification was developed using the same equipment as the PG system but with some procedural modifications and different limiting values for the test parameters. NCHRP Project 14-17 utilized the PG and SPG systems to grade base asphalt binders and recovered emulsion residues. Two emulsion residue recovery methods were compared: hot oven evaporation with nitrogen blanket and stirred can with nitrogen purge. The PG and SPG grades were found to be similar for the two emulsion residue recovery methods but slightly different from the base asphalt binder. A strawman specification for emulsion residues in chip seals was recommended for use with the stirred can recovery method. In chip seal construction, macrotexture of the existing pavement affects the rate at which chip seal emulsion must be applied. In this project, existing pavement macrotextures were measured at three chip seal projects immediately before construction using both the sand patch test and the circular track meter, CT Meter. The CT Meter was found to quickly and effectively measure pavement macrotexture. The CT Meter measurements correlated well with the sand patch test measurements. Finally, this project investigated the utility of measuring pavement macrotexture in the laboratory using the aggregate imaging system (AIMS) on pavement cores and on small samples cut from fabricated slabs. Statistical analyses showed good correlation between the mean profile depth, MPD, calculated from AIMS measurements on pavement cores and small samples, based on analysis using 50 mm (2 inch) segment lengths, and the MPD measured on the pavement or on the large fabricated slabs with the CTMeter. These results supported the use of AIMS to measure pavement macrotexture using small samples in the laboratory.

Pavement smoothness has become a standard measure of pavement quality. Transportation agencies strive to build and maintain smoother pavements. Smooth roads provide comfort while riding, minimize vehicular wear and tear and increase pavement life. A user perceives smoothness of a pavement based on the ride quality, which is severely affected by presence of defects on pavement surface. Defects identified after construction are corrected as per smoothness specifications prescribed by respective transportation agencies. The effectiveness of any method used to determine defect locations depends on the decrease in roughness obtained on correction of defects. Following the above line of thought a method that detects defects by comparing original profile to a smoothened profile will be more effective in identifying defect locations that cause roughness in pavements. This research report proposes a methodology to detect defect locations on pavement surface using profile data collected on pavements. The approach presents a method of obtaining a smoothened profile from the original profile to help identify defect locations based on deviations of the original profile from the smoothened one. Defect areas will have a higher deviation from the smoothened profile as compared to smooth areas. The verification of the defects identified by this approach is carried out by determining the decrease in roughness after removal of the identified defects from profile. A roughness statistic is used to do the same. The approach is illustrated using profile data collected on in-service pavement sections.