Effects of Subsurface Drainage on Performance of Asphalt and Concrete Pavements (2003)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

T R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H B O A R D WASHINGTON, D.C. 2003 www.TRB.org NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP REPORT 499 Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration SUBJECT AREAS Pavement Design, Management and Performance Effects of Subsurface Drainage on Performance of Asphalt and Concrete Pavements KATHLEEN T. HALL ProTech Engineering Mundelein, IL CARLOS E. CORREA Santiago, Chile

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Note: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP REPORT 499 Project C1-34C FY’99 ISSN 0077-5614 ISBN 0-309-08758-9 Library of Congress Control Number 2003107410 © 2003 Transportation Research Board Price $19.00 NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is a division of the National Research Council, which serves the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. The Board’s mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research. In an objective and interdisciplinary setting, the Board facilitates the sharing of information on transportation practice and policy by researchers and practitioners; stimulates research and offers research management services that promote technical excellence; provides expert advice on transportation policy and programs; and disseminates research results broadly and encourages their implementation. The Board’s varied activities annually engage more than 4,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF FOR NCHRP REPORT 499 ROBERT J. REILLY, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Manager, NCHRP EDWARD T. HARRIGAN, Senior Program Officer EILEEN P. DELANEY, Managing Editor NCHRP PROJECT C1-34C PANEL Field of Design—Area of Pavements LARRY E. ENGBRECHT, South Dakota DOT (Chair) RAMON BONAQUIST, Advanced Asphalt Technologies, Sterling, VA DALE S. DECKER, Dale S. Decker, LLC., Bailey, CO ROBERT P. ELLIOTT, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR ROGER M. LARSON, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc., Springfield, VA STELLA MADSEN, City of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada CLINTON E. SOLBERG, Wisconsin Concrete Pavement Association, Sherwood, WI L. DAVID SUITS, New York State DOT, Albany, NY GORDON K. WELLS, California DOT, Stockton, CA DUANE S. YOUNG, Shoreview, MN (AASHTO Monitor) MARK SWANLUND, FHWA Liaison G. P. JAYAPRAKASH, TRB Liaison

This report presents the findings of a research project to evaluate the effects of sub- surface drainage features on the performance of pavements through a comprehensive analysis of data available through June 2001 from the Long Term Pavement Perfor- mance experiments. The report will be of particular interest to engineers in the public and private sectors with responsibility for the design, construction, and rehabilitation of highway pavements. NCHRP Project 1-34, “Performance of Subsurface Pavement Drainage,” was com- pleted in 1998. Its objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of subsurface pavement drainage systems for hot mix asphalt (HMA) and portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements, including permeable base and associated edgedrains, traditional dense- graded bases with and without edgedrains, and subsurface drainage features retrofitted on existing pavements The findings of Project 1-34 were based on relatively small samples of HMA and PCC pavement sections with subsurface drainage features for which control sections were available for comparison. Pavement sections from the LTPP SPS-1 (flexible HMA pavement) and SPS-2 (rigid PCC pavement) experiments were not included because they were not of sufficient age at the time the project was underway. Project 1-34B, “Effectiveness of Subsurface Drainage for HMA and PCC Pave- ments,” was completed in 1999. It critically reviewed the results of Project 1-34 and developed an experimental plan to further test and evaluate Project 1-34’s findings. Under NCHRP Project 1-34C, “Effects of Subsurface Drainage on Performance of Asphalt and Concrete Pavements,” Dr. Kathleen Hall and her colleagues were asked to carry out this experimental plan with the objective of better quantifying the effects of subsurface drainage on pavement performance through an analysis of the SPS-1 and SPS-2 data. The research team assembled the requisite material, structural, climatic, traffic, and performance data for the SPS-1 and SPS-2 experiments from LTPP data release 11.5 of 13 June 2001. (The as-constructed layer thickness and material-type data were updated in June 2002, using data extracted from release 12.0.) In addition, during the course of NCHRP Project 1-34C, the Federal Highway Administration, with NCHRP support, contracted for the video inspection of edgedrains at the SPS-1 and SPS-2 sites to physically determine their functionality. The results of these inspections were also used by the 1-34C research team in this study. For the SPS-1 experiment, statistical analyses were conducted to determine whether or not the mean difference between undrained and drained test section pairs was significant for three HMA pavement performance indicators, viz., rutting, crack- ing, and International Roughness Index (IRI). In terms of IRI and cracking, the results of these analyses indicated that pavement sections with undrained dense-graded aggre- gate bases have tended to perform more poorly than sections of otherwise matching FOREWORD By Edward T. Harrigan Staff Officer Transportation Research Board

pavement designs with drained permeable asphalt-treated bases. However, sections with drained permeable asphalt-treated bases have tended to perform more poorly than sections of otherwise matching designs with undrained dense-graded asphalt-treated bases. In all cases, the results for rutting were so far inconclusive. For the SPS-2 experiment, the same statistical analyses were conducted for three PCC pavement performance indicators, viz., IRI, transverse cracking, and longitudinal cracking. Here, pavement sections with undrained dense-graded aggregate bases have tended to perform more poorly than sections of otherwise matching pavement designs with drained permeable asphalt-treated bases. Similarly, pavement sections with undrained lean concrete bases have tended to perform more poorly than sections of oth- erwise matching designs with drained permeable asphalt-treated bases. No analyses were possible for faulting because the faulting levels were still so low that no consis- tent trends were apparent. The final report includes a detailed description of the available data and the analy- sis procedures, a discussion of the research results and their limitations, a summary of the key findings, and two supporting appendixes: • Appendix A: SPS-1 Details; and • Appendix B: SPS-2 Details. This published report includes the main text. Appendices A and B are available on request from NCHRP.

1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Problem Statement, 1 Research Objectives, 1 Research Approach, 1 Organization of this Report, 1 2 CHAPTER 2 Effects of Subsurface Drainage on Asphalt Pavements Description of LTPP Experiment SPS-1, 2 Climate Characterization, 2 Test Section Layouts and Pavement Structures, 3 Traffic Characterization, 3 SPS-1 Construction, 6 Field Inspections of Drains at SPS-1 Sites, 6 Observations on Results of Field Inspections, 8 Effects of Drainage on SPS-1 Asphalt Pavement Performance, 11 Effect of Drainage on Asphalt Pavement Roughness (IRI) Development, 14 Effect of Drainage on Asphalt Pavement Rutting Development, 15 Effect of Drainage on Asphalt Pavement Cracking Development, 25 26 CHAPTER 3 Effects of Subsurface Drainage on Concrete Pavements Description of LTPP Experiment SPS-2, 26 Climate Characterization, 26 Test Section Layouts and Pavement Structures, 27 Traffic Characterization, 28 SPS-2 Construction, 30 Field Inspections of Drains at SPS-2 Sites, 30 Observations on Results of Field Inspections, 32 Effects of Drainage on SPS-2 Concrete Pavement Performance, 36 Effect of Drainage on Concrete Pavement Roughness (IRI) Development, 39 Effect of Drainage on Concrete Pavement Faulting Development, 39 Effect of Drainage on Concrete Pavement Cracking Development, 39 48 CHAPTER 4 Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions, 48 Observations from Preliminary Analysis of SPS-1 Performance Data, 48 Observations from Preliminary Analysis of SPS-2 Performance Data, 49 Recommendations, 49 Recommendations for Further Monitoring and Analysis of SPS-1 and SPS-2, 49 Recommendations for Future Field Experiments to Assess Drainage Effects, 50 51 REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES A and B Unpublished Material CONTENTS