Pavement Preservation Journal, Fall 2015
By Tom Kuennen
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 810, Consideration of Preservation in Pavement Design and Analysis Procedures, was released a few months ago.
It presents information on the effects of preservation on pavement performance and service life, and describes three different approaches for considering these effects in pavement design and analysis procedures.
“These approaches could serve as a basis for developing procedures for incorporating preservation in the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide: A Manual of Practice (MEPDG), and the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design software,” says Amir N. Hanna, staff officer, Transportation Research Board. “[This] will be of immediate interest to state pavement and maintenance engineers and others involved in the different aspects of pavement design and preservation.”
Pavement preservation provides a means for maintaining and improving the functional condition of an existing highway system and slowing deterioration, Hanna says. “Although pavement preservation is not expected to substantially increase structural capacity,” he adds, “it generally leads to improved pavement performance and longer service life and, therefore, should be considered in the pavement design process.”