This synthesis will be of interest to construction engineers, pavement designers, contractors, and others interested in construction of new highway pavements with smooth surfaces. Information is provided on the various devices and specifications that are being used to obtain smooth pavements. The public rates a pavement primarily on its smooth-riding characteristics and highway agencies recognize that constructing smooth pavements results in fewer problems later and lower annual maintenance costs. This report of the Transportation Research Board describes the devices and specifications highway agencies use to ensure that newly constructed pavements will provide a smooth ride.
This research study of pavement smoothness measurement was conducted in order to develop and implement an improved highway smoothness construction specification on asphalt concrete pavements. Achieving a higher level of smoothness on highways during construction results in savings to the taxpayer due to reduced wear and tear on vehicles, and longer highway life. Although the current ADOT specification used for highway smoothness addresses localized smoothness problems, it is difficult to administer due to the measurement system used, and provides little impetus to the contractor to improve his quality of work with respect to overall highway smoothness. This study provided data to assist ADOT in developing a new smoothness specification that would provide incentive to contractors to construct smoother pavements and which is easier for ADOT to administer. In order to provide incentive to contractors, a pavement smoothness construction quality control draft specification and associated measurement procedure was produced.
In a PCC pavement, it is important to achieve both a high level of smoothness during construction, as well as a satisfactory long-term performance. It is not acceptable to construct a pavement with a high initial smoothness that will give poor long-term performance. The design features and material properties of the PCC pavement should be conducive to yielding satisfactory long-term performance. Smoothness measurements for construction acceptance are usually performed shortly after paving is completed. The results from the smoothness measurements are used to judge whether the pavement has achieved the specified smoothness level. However, it is unclear whether the smoothness of a pavement measured immediately after it is paved truly reflects the initial smoothness of the pavement because the smoothness may undergo changes over the short term (e. g. within 3 months) due to curling or warping effects. This report: 1) assesses whether high initial smoothness translates into better long-term performance, 2) identifies design features and material properties in PCC pavements that can cause an initially smooth pavement to exhibit detrimental long-term performance, 3) provides guidance on materials properties, design features, and construction procedures to avoid these detrimental effects, 4) investigates how the smoothness of a PCC pavement measured immediately after construction can change over the short term (within the first 3 months), and 5) looks at data collection issues related to lightweight inertial profilers.
"TRB's second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R06E-RR-1: Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction explores real-time smoothness measuring technologies for concrete paving. For the purposes of the report, real-time smoothness refers to measuring and evaluating the concrete pavement surface profile during construction along the paving train while the concrete surface is still wet. The report also includes draft suggested specifications and guidelines related to the use of technologies that allow paving crews to measure smoothness in real time. The results of Renewal Project R06E will be incorporated into an electronic repository for practitioners, known as the NDToolbox, which will provide information regarding recommended technologies for the detection of a particular deterioration. The NDToolbox is in the process of being created by SHRP 2 Renewal Project R06A, which has released SHRP 2 Report S2-R06A-RR-1: Nondestructive Testing to Identify Concrete Bridge Deck Deterioration that identifies nondestructive testing technologies for detecting and characterizing common forms of deterioration in concrete bridge decks. Renewal Project R06E, which produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06E-RR-1, is one of seven follow-on projects to SHRP Renewal Project R06 that produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06-RW: A Plan for Developing High-Speed, Nondestructive Testing Procedures for Both Design Evaluation and Construction Inspection, which examines existing and emerging nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies and their current state of implementation to satisfy the NDE needs for highway renewal."--Publisher description.
This report from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, documents the evaluation and demonstration of real-time smoothness measuring technologies on Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavements during construction. The research in this report will improve process control and allow for two technologies, the GOMACO Smoothness Indicator and the Ames Engineering Real Time Profiler, which were both tested in the field on actual paving projects in Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and New York.
This second edition of Concrete Pavement Design, Construction, and Performance provides a solid foundation for pavement engineers seeking relevant and applicable design and construction instruction. It relies on general principles instead of specific ones, and incorporates illustrative case studies and prime design examples to highlight the materia
This publication contains papers presented at a December 2001 symposium, focusing on hot mix asphalt (HMA) smoothness measurements, specifications, and equipment. Five papers provide insight into the development and implementation of roughness specifications for pavements, and two papers offer natio
