Improving the Long-Term Condition of Pavements in Massachusetts and Determining Return on Investment: Implementing the AASHTO

Details

• Creators:
  Von Quintus, Harold L. ; Sufian, Abu A ; Brink, Wouter ; Gopisetti, Praveen ; Mogawer, Walaa S.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Massachusetts Dartmouth ; Applied Research Associates, Inc.
• Contributors:
  Naras, Edmund
• Corporate Contributors:
  Massachusetts. Department of Transportation. Office of Transportation Planning ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Data Collection Laboratory Tests Mathematical Prediction Mechanistic-empirical Pavement Design Pavement Design Pavement Distress Pavement Performance Transfer Functions
• Publication/ Report Number:
  24-067
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Massachusetts
• Edition:
  Final Report: November 2022 – November 2024
• Corporate Publisher:
  Massachusetts. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Transportation Planning
• Abstract:
  The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has sponsored multiple projects to implement the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). Due to the complexity of this research, a four-phase approach spanning several years was proposed. This report focuses on Phase 3. In Phase 3, MassDOT concentrated on using the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) test pavements in Massachusetts and neighboring states. The LTPP projects provided readily available data on traffic, climate, subgrade, materials, structure, and performance. The objective was to verify the global flexible pavement calibration coefficients using LTPP test sections for predicting distresses and smoothness, and to locally/regionally calibrate the flexible pavement transfer functions (rutting, transverse cracking, fatigue cracking, reflection cracking, and smoothness) if necessary. This report presents the 2024 regional calibration coefficients determined by distress type for new flexible pavements and asphalt overlays, along with a comparison to the global calibration coefficients of version 3 of the Pavement Mechanistic Empirical Design (PMED) software. It is recommended that MassDOT use these regional calibration coefficients for designing and evaluating flexible pavements, as they reflect the performance of flexible pavements and asphalt overlays in Massachusetts. Additionally, the default laboratory coefficients for dense-graded asphalt mixtures are suggested for predicting fatigue, thermal, and reflective cracking in Massachusetts until more comprehensive laboratory mixture test data can be collected. A future phase of this study, Phase 4, will address this shortcoming by incorporating additional roadway segments in Massachusetts and conducting laboratory tests on the asphalt mixtures used in these segments.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b364e1e6830678ba0cfbf6ba92853cdf163bcb8f80dc56131e6224b418f116d366d89738487a6943064077b138f9c262123ecd95da096bf64ac59a7b84c3a818
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/86815/dot_86815_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.33 MB ]