United States Department of Transportation
i
Selection and Characterization of the Foundation Materials for the Third-Generation FHWA Pavement Test Facility
-
2024-12-01
-
[PDF-5.33 MB]
Details:
-
Creators:
-
Corporate Creators:
-
Subject/TRT Terms:
-
Publication/ Report Number:
-
DOI:
-
Resource Type:
-
Right Statement:
-
Geographical Coverage:
-
Contracting Officer:
-
Corporate Publisher:
-
Abstract:The reconstruction of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) third-generation Pavement Testing Facility (PTF-3) provided a unique opportunity to incorporate the geotechnical aspects of pavements within the agency’s accelerated pavement testing program. These geotechnical aspects included various unbound and asphalt-treated base materials to estimate pavement drainage and resilience through time-to-drain experiments; stabilized, cement-treated bases to evaluate a different type of pavement foundation structure through inverted pavement experiments; and No. 10 screenings (i.e., stone dust) to assess the suitability of quarry byproducts as a durable and sustainable subbase material and as a constituent in a cement-treated base. FHWA’s Geotechnical Laboratory conducted an extensive testing program to characterize all the pavement foundation materials. The materials included the homogeneous subgrade across the pavement field, from sieve, density, and specific gravity to permeability and resilient modulus, among other physical, hydraulic, mechanical, and durability properties. This report documents the selection and laboratory characterization of the geotechnical materials as part of the PTF-3 research program and objectives, including the challenges and thought processes leading to the selection and testing of the pavement subsurface layers (i.e., base, subbase, and subgrade) placed during its reconstruction. Key findings relate to the variability of geotechnical materials; the sensitivity of gradation, particularly the gravel-to-sand ratio, on permeability and effective porosity; the use of quarry byproducts in pavements; and the geotechnical inputs for pavement design. This initial baseline characterization study should allow for the future assessment and potential improvements of various flexible pavement designs.
-
Format:
-
Funding:
-
Collection(s):
-
Main Document Checksum:
-
Download URL:
-
File Type:
