Extending Pavement Life Using Thin Surfacing to Counter the Effect of Increased Truck Traffic Due to Freight Movements on Highways.

摘要

The highways in the Midwest are experiencing a considerable amount of truck traffic due to increased freight transportation. There is clearly a risk to the highway infrastructure caused by this additional truck traffic that will also have an increasingly detrimental effect on the safety of the citizens, the traveling public in terms of congestion, and the economy of the entire region. Traditionally the life of the pavements has been extended by a variety of rehabilitation techniques. For example, techniques used by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) include route and crack seal, chip seal, 1- to 4-inch overlay, 1- to 4-inch inlay, heater scarification, cold in-place recycling (4-inch), and cold milling. Recently, due to a tight maintenance budget, thin surfacing, like the ultra-thin bonded bituminous surface (NovaChip), and modified slurry seal (microsurfacing), is being used increasingly. The thin-surfacing strategy has been touted as one of the most cost-effective measures that can extend pavement life, improve ride quality, correct surface defects (leveling), improve safety characteristics, enhance appearance, and reduce road-tire noise. This report discusses performance of pavements treated with two commonly used types of thin surfacing: ultrathin bonded bituminous surface and microsurfacing.