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Scholarly Works (2 results)

Article

Performance of Drained and Undrained Flexible Pavement Structures Under Wet Conditions Test Data From Accelerated Pavement Test Section 543-Drained

Recent Work (2004)

This report is the first in a series of four reports that describe the results of accelerated pavement tests on full-scale pavements with “wet” base conditions at the Pavement Research Center, located at the University of California Berkeley Richmond Field Station (RFS). The report contains a summary of the results and associated analysis of a pavement section comprised of three lifts of asphalt concrete, an asphalt treated permeable base (ATPB) layer, and untreated aggregate base layers on top of a prepared subgrade and designated as Section 543. The pavement section is a termed a “drained’ pavement due to the inclusion of an ATPB layer between the asphalt concrete layers and the untreated aggregate base. Tests on this test section have been performed as part of the Goal 5 Accelerated Test Program for the evaluation of drained and undrained pavements under conditions of water infiltration.

Cover page: Performance of Drained and Undrained Flexible Pavement Structures Under Wet Conditions Test Data From Accelerated Pavement Test Section 543-Drained

Article

Performance of Drained and Undrained Flexible Pavement Structures under Wet Conditions Test Data from Accelerated Pavement Test Section 544-Undrained

Research Reports (2004)

This report presents the data for the accelerated pavement testing (APT) program conducted using the Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) on Section 544. This section is part of the accelerated test program described in the test plan for CAL/APT Goal 5, “Performance of Drained and Undrained Flexible Pavement Structures under Wet Conditions.”(1) Section 544 was tested to evaluate the performance of a typical California “undrained” pavement section under wet conditions and to compare its performance with that of Section 543 (a drained pavement section) in the same condition. From the Caltrans standpoint, an “undrained” pavement section is a conventional flexible pavement that does not have a permeable layer between the asphalt concrete and the aggregate base. A “drained” pavement section is a conventional flexible pavement that includes a 75-mm layer of asphalt treated permeable base (ATPB) between the asphalt concrete and aggregate base connected to a drainage system at the shoulder. The purpose of the ATPB layer is to intercept water entering the pavement, either through cracks in the asphalt concrete or through high permeability asphalt concrete, and carry it out of the pavement before it reaches the unbound materials layers where it may lead to a reduction in stiffness and resistance to rutting. Wet conditions for Section 544 were intended to simulate surface infiltration rates that would occur along the north coast climate region of California during a wet month for a badly cracked asphalt concrete layer.(2) Because the pavement surface course of Section 544 was initially uncracked, water was introduced through small holes drilled through the asphalt concrete into the aggregate base.