HIGHWAY TECHNET   VIRTUAL EXPO   PAVEMENTS INDEX
Asphalt Pavement Design and Construction
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
DP-87 Drainable Pavement Systems (Phase II)
The asphalt pavement design and construction technology group focuses on innovative techniques for design and construction of high-performance asphalt pavements used in new construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, restoration, or resurfacing.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) continues to support performance-related specifications for highway construction. Performance-related specifications (PRS) require materials and construction tests, the results of which correlate to a known degree with the performance of the completed product. A series of FHWA, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and State Planning and Research (SP&R) studies have produced the initial framework and at least a partial system of PRS for hot mix asphalt pavement construction.

The focus in the PRS is on quality control of construction-selecting the best available materials, and establishing the mix and pavement designs. PRS addresses three questions:

  1. What quality control tests need to be run during construction to minimize premature fatigue cracking or rutting?
  2. What is the impact on the subsequent performance of deviations from the target values of properties such as density, asphalt content, or both?
  3. What payment adjustments are appropriate when such deviations are encountered?
The focus of other projects under this technology group is to evaluate these specific technologies to determine the optimum procedure for achieving quality construction and high-performance asphalt pavements.

HIGHWAY TECHNET   VIRTUAL EXPO   PAVEMENTS INDEX
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration