LWD & DCP Testing for Pavement Foundation and Subbase

Details

• Creators:
  Solaimanian, Mansour ; Guo, Xiaogang ; Masouleh, Darya Shahidi ; Milander, Scott ; Koohbanani, Behnam Jahangiri
• Corporate Creators:
  Pennsylvania State University. Thomas D. Larson Transportation Institute
• Contributors:
  Neff, Dennis ; Miller, Beverly
• Corporate Contributors:
  Pennsylvania. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Planning and Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aggregates Cone Penetrometers Deflectometers Dynamic Penetration Test Foundation Soils Laboratory Tests Lightweight Materials Moisture Content Pavement Subbase Pavement Subgrade Soil Compaction Soils

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-PA-2024-008-PSU WO 02 ; LTI 2025-08
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Pennsylvania
• Edition:
  Final Report: 7/20/2022 – 11/1/2024
• Contracting Officer:
  Heather Sorce
• Corporate Publisher:
  Pennsylvania. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Planning and Research
• Abstract:
  This research effort was undertaken to establish test methods, limits, and protocols to implement lightweight deflectometer (LWD) and dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) testing and acceptance criteria for Pennsylvania’s subgrade soil and unbound pavement layers. Historically, density-based criteria have been predominantly used to assess the subgrade/base compaction quality. This study sought to assess the viability of LWD and DCP as tools for quality control/assurance in the compaction of highway subbase and base materials in Pennsylvania. Five different types of soils, covering a wide range of gradations, were selected for the laboratory study. The study included small-scale laboratory testing and progressed to large-scale laboratory testing in a test pit and subsequently field testing. The optimum moisture content was determined in the laboratory for each soil. Laboratory LWD testing was conducted on all soils at different moisture contents and compaction levels. The LWD/DCP research in the test pit and in the field was limited to two of the soils. The general conclusion from this study was that LWD and DCP are useful tools and PennDOT can benefit from including them in its subgrade/base compaction quality control specifications. The lab LWD deflections were significantly lower than those obtained in the field and in the test pit due to the effect of the strong floor, an important finding to consider when developing threshold values. The results of the study were used to develop a set of recommendations for PennDOT toward the use of LWD/DCP for field quality control of compacting subgrade, subbase, and base layers. The recommended threshold values are based on this study and subject to validation and/or adjustment as further information and data become available from LWD/DCP testing in actual field conditions.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  512101
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fe0cfe285df929870705ad00337bbb008491d799096fefbccf23977dd41e51553614e305ee90322a288a0d227250122322af0a3ce794461f11f3a01face2930c
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/89166/dot_89166_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.20 MB ]