6 Pavement Surface Condition
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FINAL REPORT Project Title: P15: Queensland Trial of High Standard Granular Base TrackStar Alliance Project (Year 4 - 2016/17) ARRB Project No: PRP16023 Author/s: Dr. Jeffrey Lee, Jonathon Griffin, Alan Conaghan Client: Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads Date: 09/02/2018 AN INITIATIVE BY: TC-710-4-4-8 SUMMARY A significant portion of the Australian sealed road network is composed of Although the Report is believed to be unbound granular pavement layers with a sprayed seal surface. correct at the time of publication, Traditionally, unbound granular pavements are used in rural or light to ARRB, to the extent lawful, excludes moderately traffic applications, with higher quality asphalt, stabilised or all liability for loss (whether arising concrete pavements generally used in urban areas and in more heavily under contract, tort, statute or trafficked applications. otherwise) arising from the contents of the Report or from its use. Where Growing demands on infrastructure budgets has led to the desire to such liability cannot be excluded, it is investigate the use of unbound granular structures for heavy duty reduced to the full extent lawful. applications in Queensland. However, initial construction cost savings Without limiting the foregoing, people resulting from the provision of unbound granular pavements may be should apply their own skill and counteracted by increased maintenance requirements, the risk of premature judgement when using the information distress development and the potential for rapid failure. contained in the Report. The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) is trialing a heavy-duty unbound granular pavement with a sprayed seal surfacing (denoted as SG(HD) TMR(2017)) incorporating high-standard granular (HSG) basecourse as part of the Centenary Motorway duplication project. The proximity of the project to Brisbane makes it an ideal candidate for long- term evaluation and monitoring. The project also includes a number of non- standard requirement for Queensland, including additional specification controls, material characterisation techniques, and construction methods. This report presents an overview of the Centenary Motorway duplication project, observations on material production and construction, and reports the results of regular surface and structural condition assessments. Observation of the Centenary Motorway trial began in August 2013, and was followed by subsequent monitoring surveys conducted using the network survey vehicle (NSV) and the falling weight deflectometer (FWD). Based on the information available to-date, after being trafficked for approximately 40% of the pavements 10 year design life, the heavy duty unbound granular pavement constructed on the Centenary Highway as part of the TrackStar Alliance Project is performing satisfactorily. While there are some signs of continuing pavement deterioration (e.g. increased roughness, increased rutting and increased deflection), the pavement is considered to be performing as expected. Throughout the four year monitoring period, the data collected and observations made on the pavement do not suggest earlier maintenance intervention is required. FWD testing and back analysis of the deflection data shows the overall pavement strength has reduced since initial construction, however the modulus of the base course has generally increased or remained steady. Overall the remaining pavement life calculated still significantly exceeds the residual design life anticipated for the pavement. It is suggested that the site is continued to be monitored under the current NACoE Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) project. Based on the findings of this research project and other inputs from the industry, TMR has published the following in July 2017: • An update to Technical Specification MRTS05 Unbound Pavements TC-710-4-4-8 Page i • Technical Note 171 Use of High Standard Granular (HSG) Bases in Heavy Duty Unbound Granular Pavements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to acknowledge the support of the National Asset Centre of Excellence (NACoE), an initiative of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB). Also, the significant contributions of time and effort, in addition to open sharing of information, from TMR and TrackStar Alliance personnel were instrumental to the development of this document. TC-710-4-4-8 Page ii This page is intentionally left blank TC-710-4-4-8 Page iii CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Previous Queensland HSG Trial ............................................................................................ 1 1.3 Project Descriptions ............................................................................................................... 2 2 UNBOUND GRANULAR PAVEMENTS ................................................................................ 4 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 Granular Material Requirements ............................................................................................ 4 2.2.1 Specifications ........................................................................................................... 5 2.2.2 Mineralogy ............................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3 Particle Shape .......................................................................................................... 8 2.2.4 Particle Size ............................................................................................................. 8 2.2.5 Surface Texture ........................................................................................................ 9 2.2.6 Plasticity ................................................................................................................... 9 2.2.7 Hardness/Toughness ............................................................................................. 10 2.2.8 Soundness ............................................................................................................. 10 2.2.9 Permeability ........................................................................................................... 11 2.2.10 Bearing Capacity .................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Granular Material Production ............................................................................................... 11 2.4 Sprayed Bituminous Seal ..................................................................................................... 12 2.4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 12 2.4.2 Bitumen .................................................................................................................. 12 2.4.3 Cover Aggregate .................................................................................................... 13 2.5 Pavement Structural Design ................................................................................................ 14 2.5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 14 2.5.2 Mechanistic Design ................................................................................................ 14 2.5.3 Empirical Design .................................................................................................... 15 2.6 Pavement Construction ........................................................................................................ 15 2.6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 15 2.6.2 Unbound Granular Layers ...................................................................................... 15 2.6.3 Bituminous Sprayed Seal ....................................................................................... 16 2.7 Quality Control ..................................................................................................................... 17 2.7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 17 2.7.2 Segregation ............................................................................................................ 17 2.7.3 Compaction ............................................................................................................ 17 2.7.4 Evenness ............................................................................................................... 18 2.7.5 Horizontal Deviation ............................................................................................... 18 2.7.6 Deflection ............................................................................................................... 18 2.8 Performance ........................................................................................................................ 18 2.8.1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................