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Office of Research, Development and Technology at the Turner-Fairbanks Highway Research Center

Simplified Techniques for Evaluation and Interpretation of Pavement Deflections for Network-Level Analysis: Guide for Assessment of Pavement Structure Performance for PMS Applications

FHWA-HRT-12-025.pdf (463.87 KB)

Publication Information

Publication Type:
Other
Publication Number:
FHWA-HRT-12-025
Abstract:

The objective of this study was to develop an approach for incorporating techniques used to interpret and evaluate deflection data for network-level pavement management system (PMS) applications. The first part of this research focused on identifying and evaluating existing techniques, seeking out those that were simple, reliable, and easy to incorporate into current PMS practices, as well as those that produced consistent results. The second part of the research detailed the development of guidelines for the application of recommended techniques and procedures for determining optimum falling weight deflectometer (FWD) test spacing and data collection frequency. While there are many viable techniques available for evaluating the structural capacity of pavements that use FWD for project-level analysis, many of these techniques are time consuming and require an experienced analyst. As a result, using pavement deflection testing for network-level analysis has been limited to date. This guide contains step-by-step instructions for applying appropriate evaluation techniques for network-level (not project-level) measurements and analyses

Publishing Date:
June 2012
Author(s):
Stubstad, R.
Carvalho, R.
Briggs, Robert
Selezneva, Olga
FHWA Program(s):
Research
Infrastructure
AMRP Program(s):
Pavements and Materials
FHWA Activities:
Long-Term Pavement Performance
Subject Area:
Research
Pavements