Extending pavement life: investigation of premature distress in unbound granular pavements

摘要

Premature distress in unbound basecourses has occurred regularly in New Zealand. In 2008, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) commissioned the assembly of an inventory of problem basecourses and subbases. Study of the inventory found that the long-term degree of saturation of basecourse was highly significant in the case histories of premature distress, ie the pavements failed through shear instability (shoving) in the basecourses. A common feature in basecourses with a high degree of saturation was gap grading in the sand fraction.