Increased Density to Improve Pavement Durability Demonstration Project - NDOT 3716
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Authors
Hand, Adam J. T.
Aschenbrenner, Timothy B.
Issue Date
2021-07
Type
Technical Report
Language
en_US
Keywords
In-place density , in-place air voids , asphalt pavement , pavement performance , WRSC
Alternative Title
Abstract
The fact that Department of Transportation (DOT) specifications always include compaction provisions reflects that asphalt pavement technologists have recognized the impact of in place density on pavement performance for many decades. However, an increase in durability related performance issues in the mid 2010’s placed renewed focus on it. A recent literature review summarized past lab and field work which conservatively showed a 1 percent increase in density improves pavement life by 10 percent. It included information from the WesTrack project in Nevada that showed a 1 percent increase in density resulted in an improvement in rutting performance of 7 to 66 percent and 8 to 44 percent improvement in fatigue performance. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has supported an Increased In-Place Density Initiative since 2015 with focus on communicating and providing education on the benefits of increasing in-place density of asphalt concrete pavements that State DOTs could volunteer to participate in.
This report describes a density demonstration project conducted by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). The project scope included two test sections for the typical roadway reconstruction under special provisions that increased the NDOT standard specification in-place mat density minimum requirements by one percent and two percent, respectively. A control section was also constructed. The contractor had the flexibility to make operational and equipment changes in the two test sections to improve in place density. Collectively, use of intelligent compactors, additional density QC staff, additional roller coverages and potentially an increase in asphalt content above the JMF target led to increased mat density and improved consistency when compared to the control data.
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In Copyright (All Rights Reserved)