A research study in 1996-1997, sponsored by WisDOT, was undertaken by the PI of this proposal to develop a computer model to correlate climate
and pavement data for the year in progress in order to project when to impose and lift weight restrictions. Our research team collected field data
relating to weather and road stiffness over two winter-spring periods, which enabled the development of a six-phase computer model integrating
weather conditions, heat transfer, roadway stiffness, stress-strain effects, and estimates of pavement damage load (EDL) for a given road 30, 60, 90, or
120 days into the future based on user-supplied average daily temperatures experienced in the year to date.
WisDOT’s Bureau of Highway Operations, (BOH) used this software, known as UWFROST, during the ’98-’99 and ’99-’00 winter seasons and
found the software’s fall freezing and spring thawing projections to be quite accurate for normal winters.
Since this study was conducted, additional data has been collected using frost tubes to declare the roads frozen and then unfrozen. Changes in
Wisconsin climate have also been noted which will affect the model. More data has been collected at the national level, which relates pavement
material moduli to temperature. All of which needs to be integrated into an updated version of the model.
Highway pavements in seasonal frost areas undergo annual freeze-thaw cycles. Pavements constructed for the design load capacity can become weak during...
Between January 1990 and December 1994, a study verified and applied a Corps of Engineers-developed mechanistic design and evaluation method for pavem...
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