Demonstration of Network Level Pavement Structural Evaluation with Traffic Speed Deflectometer

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General Information
Study Number: TPF-5(282)
Former Study Number:
Lead Organization: Federal Highway Administration
Contract Start Date: Sep 20, 2013
Solicitation Number: 1346
Partners: CA, FHWA, GADOT, ID, IL, NV, NY, PADOT, SC, VA
Status: Closed
Est. Completion Date: Jul 31, 2017
Contract/Other Number: DTFH61-11-D-00009-T-13008
Last Updated: Sep 17, 2018
Contract End Date: Feb 28, 2017
Financial Summary
Contract Amount:
Suggested Contribution:
Total Commitments Received: $575,000.00
100% SP&R Approval: Approved
Contact Information
Lead Study Contact(s): Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Phone: 202-493-3147
FHWA Technical Liaison(s): Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Phone: 202-493-3147
Study Champion(s): Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Phone: 202-493-3147
Organization Year Commitments Technical Contact Name Funding Contact Name
California Department of Transportation 2014 $50,000.00 James Lee Sang Le
California Department of Transportation 2015 $50,000.00 James Lee Sang Le
Federal Highway Administration 2013 $100,000.00 Nadarajah Sivaneswaran Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Georgia Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Monzy Mathews Supriya Kamatkar
Georgia Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Monzy Mathews Supriya Kamatkar
Idaho Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Caleb Lakey Amanda Laib
Illinois Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Charles Wienrank Megan Swanson
Illinois Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Charles Wienrank Megan Swanson
Nevada Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Reid Kaiser Ken Chambers
Nevada Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Reid Kaiser Ken Chambers
New York State Department of Transportation 2013 $25,000.00 Rick Bennett Wes Yang
New York State Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Rick Bennett Wes Yang
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2013 $25,000.00 Janice Arellano Lisa Tarson
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Janice Arellano Lisa Tarson
South Carolina Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Luke Gibson Terry Swygert
South Carolina Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Luke Gibson Terry Swygert
Virginia Department of Transportation 2015 $50,000.00 Brian Diefenderfer Bill Kelsh

Study Description

Current State Highway Agencies’ (SHA) Pavement Management Systems are primarily based on surface condition data, and surface cracking is mainly used as an indicator of the pavement structural condition. However, with effective pavement preservation activities that intervene early to preserve and extend the life of pavements and increasingly thicker long-life pavements, the surface cracks can no longer be relied on as a reliable indicator of structural condition or “health” of the pavement structure. This is because most preservation treatments correct surface cracks but do not correct bottom-up fatigue cracking, instead concealing them, while the bottom-initiated cracks continue to develop. In addition, the prevalence of top-down cracking in thicker pavements also makes it difficult to distinguish them from bottom-up fatigue cracking, which is the common indicator of structural deterioration. The true pavement structural condition and rate of deterioration are needed not only to plan optimal structural rehabilitation activities and future budget needs but also for assessing meaningful progress under a performance based Federal-Aid program. With an aging pavement network on our most trafficked highways, the fear is not when the next preservation treatment is needed but when that will no longer be effective, resulting in the need for major rehabilitation / reconstruction. The SHAs state-of-the-practice pavement condition data collection is inadequate to meet this increasingly critical need and some SHAs have investigated the network level use of the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). While FWDs are the preferred device for project level structural evaluation, they are inefficient at the network level. FWD measurements are made at discrete points along the pavement sections and the equipment should remain stationary on the road during each testing point (typically 1-4 minutes, depending on the protocol). Since the equipment has to be stationary during measurements, this requires traffic control and lane closures that disrupt traffic. This limits the productivity and the number of discrete points where measurements can be obtained. High speed continuous deflection devices were developed as a practical alternative to the FWD for network level pavement structural evaluation. A number of recent studies have investigated the state-of-the-technology and use of high speed continuous deflection devices (1, 2, 3). A more recent effort under SHRP2-R06(F) project titled “Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies” reviewed all such devices under Phase I of two phase effort and concluded that, for network level applications, there are two potential devices currently on the market – the Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) and the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer (RWD) (1). TSD is manufactured in Denmark and to date is being used in Denmark, UK, Poland and Italy. In addition, several thousand miles of major roads in Australia were tested in 2010 and South Africa has recently purchased a device. The manufacturers of TSD have reported of their plans to make available their latest version of TSD for demonstration testing in the US at their own transportation expense in 2013. Federal Highway Administration’s has initiated a new research project to assess, field evaluate and validate on instrumented and other test pavement sections the capability of RWD and TSD for pavement structural evaluation at the network level for use in pavement management application and decision making (4). Following the field evaluation, validation and identification of technically capable device(s), the research project will also develop analysis methodologies for enabling the use of information obtained from those technically capable device(s) in pavement management.

Objectives

The objective of the proposed pooled-fund project is to assess the feasibility of and demonstrate the use of Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) for network level pavement structural evaluation for use in the participating state agencies’ pavement management application and decision making. FHWA research project under Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 will compliment this proposed pooled fund study.

Scope of Work

This project will include the following tasks: 1. Coordination and collection of TSD data on agency designated pavement sections for one day of testing at traffic speed, including calibration. Testing length of 30 – 50 miles. 2. Post-processing of all collected data. The agency will be provided with all collected raw and process data in an Excel workbook. Please see comments section for the type of data collected with TSD. 3. Exploratory analysis in the use of pavement structural condition information derived from TSD for use in the participating SHA’s pavement management system and applications.

Comments

Minimum commitment per state is $20,000. The minimum commitment covers first day of testing (including transportation, calibration, 30 – 50 miles of data collection and post processing of data) and travel costs for one representative of the participating agency, or their representative, to attend face-to-face TAC meetings. Factoring in mobilization and calibration time, it is expected that first day testing will provide 30 – 50 miles of data collection. Additional days of testing can be arranged at additional commitments of $5,000/day (maximum daily production is approximately 300 miles). The specifications of the TSD to be available are described in the documents section. A waiver has been requested for 100% SP&R Approval References: 1. Strategic Highway Research Program (2012) “Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies,” Final Report, Project SHRP2–R06(F), Washington, DC. 2. Rada, G. R. and Nazarian, S. (2011) “The State-of-the-Technology of Moving Pavement Deflection Testing,” Final Report, FHWA-DTFH61-08-D-00025, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC. 3. Jitin, A., Tandon V., and Nazarian S. (2006), “Continuous Deflection Testing of Highways at Traffic Speeds,” Research Report No. FHWA/TX-06/0-4380-1, Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX. 4. FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031. Refer to Statement of Work in the documents section.

Documents Attached
Title File/Link Document Category Document Type Privacy Document Date Download
TPF-5(282) Closeout Letter TPF-5(282) Closeout Letter - Signed.pdf Memorandum Other Public 2018-09-18
TPF-5(282) Closeout Funding Spreadsheet TPF-5(282) Close Out Funding Spreadsheet.pdf Other Other Public 2018-09-18
Final Report - Virginia Final Report Virginia - 2017-31-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - South Carolina Final Report South Carolina - 2017-04-04.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - New York Final Report New York 2017-08-02.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - Nevada Final Report Nevada -2017-06-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - Illinois Final Report Illinois - 2017-07-18.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - Idaho Final Report Idaho - 2017-06-29.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - Georgia Final Report Georgia - 2017-06-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - California Final Report California - 2017-04-05.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-08-10
Final Report - Pennsylvania TPF-5(282) Final Summary Report.pdf TPF Study Documentation Research Report Public 2017-05-30
Final Summary Report TPF-5(282) Final Summary Report.pdf Deliverable Final Report Public 2017-05-30
Quarterly Report: January - March 2017 QPR-2017Q1.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2017-04-25
Quarterly Report: April - June 2016 QPR-2016Q2.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2016-08-10
Quarterly Report: January - March 2016 QPR-2016Q1.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2016-08-10
Fourth TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations FourthTAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations.pdf Other Other Public 2016-02-02
Quarterly Report: October- December 2015 QPR-2015Q4.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2016-01-31
Third TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations Third TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations.pdf Other Other Public 2015-06-30
Quarterly Report: January - March 2015 QPR-2015Q1.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2015-06-30
Quarterly Report: October- December 2014 QPR-2014Q4.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2015-06-30
Quarterly Report: July - September 2014 QPR-2014Q3.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2014-12-23
Quarterly Report: April - June 2014 QPR-2014Q2.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2014-12-23
Quarterly Report: January - March 2014 QPR-2014Q1.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2014-04-30
Quarterly Report: October - December 2013 QPR-2013Q4.pdf Progress Report Quarterly Progress Report Public 2013-01-31
Lead Agency Acceptance Memo TPF-5(282) Lead Agency Acceptance MemoSigned.pdf Memorandum Other Public 2013-06-07
Statement of Work for FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 http://www.pooledfund.org/Document/Download/4090 Other Other Public 2013-06-06
Specifications of the TSD to be available for Demonstration http://www.pooledfund.org/Document/Download/4089 Other Other Public 2013-06-06
Documents Attached
Title File/Link Document Category Document Type Privacy Document Date Download
Statement of Work for FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 DTFH61-12-C-00031 - Statement of Work.pdf Other Other Public 2013-03-19
Specifications of the TSD to be available for Demonstration TSD Details.pdf Other Other Public 2013-03-19

Demonstration of Network Level Pavement Structural Evaluation with Traffic Speed Deflectometer

General Information
Study Number: TPF-5(282)
Lead Organization: Federal Highway Administration
Contract Start Date: Sep 20, 2013
Solicitation Number: 1346
Partners: CA, FHWA, GADOT, ID, IL, NV, NY, PADOT, SC, VA
Status: Closed
Est. Completion Date: Jul 31, 2017
Contract/Other Number: DTFH61-11-D-00009-T-13008
Last Updated: Sep 17, 2018
Contract End Date: Feb 28, 2017
Financial Summary
Contract Amount:
Total Commitments Received: $575,000.00
100% SP&R Approval:
Contact Information
Lead Study Contact(s): Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Phone: 202-493-3147
FHWA Technical Liaison(s): Nadarajah Sivaneswaran
Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Phone: 202-493-3147
Commitments by Organizations
Organization Year Commitments Technical Contact Name Funding Contact Name Contact Number Email Address
California Department of Transportation 2014 $50,000.00 James Lee Sang Le (916)701-3998 sang.le@dot.ca.gov
California Department of Transportation 2015 $50,000.00 James Lee Sang Le (916)701-3998 sang.le@dot.ca.gov
Federal Highway Administration 2013 $100,000.00 Nadarajah Sivaneswaran Nadarajah Sivaneswaran 202-493-3147 Nadarajah.Sivaneswaran@dot.gov
Georgia Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Monzy Mathews Supriya Kamatkar 404-347-0552 skamatkar@dot.ga.gov
Georgia Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Monzy Mathews Supriya Kamatkar 404-347-0552 skamatkar@dot.ga.gov
Idaho Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Caleb Lakey Amanda Laib 208-334-8181 amanda.laib@itd.idaho.gov
Illinois Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Charles Wienrank Megan Swanson 217-782-3547 Megan.Swanson@illinois.gov
Illinois Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Charles Wienrank Megan Swanson 217-782-3547 Megan.Swanson@illinois.gov
Nevada Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Reid Kaiser Ken Chambers (775) 888-7220 kchambers@dot.state.nv.us
Nevada Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Reid Kaiser Ken Chambers (775) 888-7220 kchambers@dot.state.nv.us
New York State Department of Transportation 2013 $25,000.00 Rick Bennett Wes Yang 518-457-4660 wes.yang@dot.ny.gov
New York State Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Rick Bennett Wes Yang 518-457-4660 wes.yang@dot.ny.gov
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2013 $25,000.00 Janice Arellano Lisa Tarson (717) 705-2202 ltarson@pa.gov
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Janice Arellano Lisa Tarson (717) 705-2202 ltarson@pa.gov
South Carolina Department of Transportation 2014 $25,000.00 Luke Gibson Terry Swygert 803-737-6691 SwygertTL@scdot.org
South Carolina Department of Transportation 2015 $25,000.00 Luke Gibson Terry Swygert 803-737-6691 SwygertTL@scdot.org
Virginia Department of Transportation 2015 $50,000.00 Brian Diefenderfer Bill Kelsh 434-293-1934 Bill.Kelsh@VDOT.Virginia.gov

Study Description

Study Description

Current State Highway Agencies’ (SHA) Pavement Management Systems are primarily based on surface condition data, and surface cracking is mainly used as an indicator of the pavement structural condition. However, with effective pavement preservation activities that intervene early to preserve and extend the life of pavements and increasingly thicker long-life pavements, the surface cracks can no longer be relied on as a reliable indicator of structural condition or “health” of the pavement structure. This is because most preservation treatments correct surface cracks but do not correct bottom-up fatigue cracking, instead concealing them, while the bottom-initiated cracks continue to develop. In addition, the prevalence of top-down cracking in thicker pavements also makes it difficult to distinguish them from bottom-up fatigue cracking, which is the common indicator of structural deterioration. The true pavement structural condition and rate of deterioration are needed not only to plan optimal structural rehabilitation activities and future budget needs but also for assessing meaningful progress under a performance based Federal-Aid program. With an aging pavement network on our most trafficked highways, the fear is not when the next preservation treatment is needed but when that will no longer be effective, resulting in the need for major rehabilitation / reconstruction. The SHAs state-of-the-practice pavement condition data collection is inadequate to meet this increasingly critical need and some SHAs have investigated the network level use of the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). While FWDs are the preferred device for project level structural evaluation, they are inefficient at the network level. FWD measurements are made at discrete points along the pavement sections and the equipment should remain stationary on the road during each testing point (typically 1-4 minutes, depending on the protocol). Since the equipment has to be stationary during measurements, this requires traffic control and lane closures that disrupt traffic. This limits the productivity and the number of discrete points where measurements can be obtained. High speed continuous deflection devices were developed as a practical alternative to the FWD for network level pavement structural evaluation. A number of recent studies have investigated the state-of-the-technology and use of high speed continuous deflection devices (1, 2, 3). A more recent effort under SHRP2-R06(F) project titled “Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies” reviewed all such devices under Phase I of two phase effort and concluded that, for network level applications, there are two potential devices currently on the market – the Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) and the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer (RWD) (1). TSD is manufactured in Denmark and to date is being used in Denmark, UK, Poland and Italy. In addition, several thousand miles of major roads in Australia were tested in 2010 and South Africa has recently purchased a device. The manufacturers of TSD have reported of their plans to make available their latest version of TSD for demonstration testing in the US at their own transportation expense in 2013. Federal Highway Administration’s has initiated a new research project to assess, field evaluate and validate on instrumented and other test pavement sections the capability of RWD and TSD for pavement structural evaluation at the network level for use in pavement management application and decision making (4). Following the field evaluation, validation and identification of technically capable device(s), the research project will also develop analysis methodologies for enabling the use of information obtained from those technically capable device(s) in pavement management.

Objectives

The objective of the proposed pooled-fund project is to assess the feasibility of and demonstrate the use of Traffic Speed Deflectometer (TSD) for network level pavement structural evaluation for use in the participating state agencies’ pavement management application and decision making. FHWA research project under Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 will compliment this proposed pooled fund study.

Scope of Work

This project will include the following tasks: 1. Coordination and collection of TSD data on agency designated pavement sections for one day of testing at traffic speed, including calibration. Testing length of 30 – 50 miles. 2. Post-processing of all collected data. The agency will be provided with all collected raw and process data in an Excel workbook. Please see comments section for the type of data collected with TSD. 3. Exploratory analysis in the use of pavement structural condition information derived from TSD for use in the participating SHA’s pavement management system and applications.

Comments

Minimum commitment per state is $20,000. The minimum commitment covers first day of testing (including transportation, calibration, 30 – 50 miles of data collection and post processing of data) and travel costs for one representative of the participating agency, or their representative, to attend face-to-face TAC meetings. Factoring in mobilization and calibration time, it is expected that first day testing will provide 30 – 50 miles of data collection. Additional days of testing can be arranged at additional commitments of $5,000/day (maximum daily production is approximately 300 miles). The specifications of the TSD to be available are described in the documents section. A waiver has been requested for 100% SP&R Approval References: 1. Strategic Highway Research Program (2012) “Assessment of Continuous Pavement Deflection Measuring Technologies,” Final Report, Project SHRP2–R06(F), Washington, DC. 2. Rada, G. R. and Nazarian, S. (2011) “The State-of-the-Technology of Moving Pavement Deflection Testing,” Final Report, FHWA-DTFH61-08-D-00025, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC. 3. Jitin, A., Tandon V., and Nazarian S. (2006), “Continuous Deflection Testing of Highways at Traffic Speeds,” Research Report No. FHWA/TX-06/0-4380-1, Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX. 4. FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031. Refer to Statement of Work in the documents section.

Title File/Link Type Private
TPF-5(282) Closeout Letter TPF-5(282) Closeout Letter - Signed.pdf Memorandum Public
TPF-5(282) Closeout Funding Spreadsheet TPF-5(282) Close Out Funding Spreadsheet.pdf Other Public
Final Report - Virginia Final Report Virginia - 2017-31-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - South Carolina Final Report South Carolina - 2017-04-04.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - New York Final Report New York 2017-08-02.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - Nevada Final Report Nevada -2017-06-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - Illinois Final Report Illinois - 2017-07-18.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - Idaho Final Report Idaho - 2017-06-29.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - Georgia Final Report Georgia - 2017-06-07.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - California Final Report California - 2017-04-05.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Report - Pennsylvania TPF-5(282) Final Summary Report.pdf TPF Study Documentation Public
Final Summary Report TPF-5(282) Final Summary Report.pdf Deliverable Public
Quarterly Report: January - March 2017 QPR-2017Q1.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: April - June 2016 QPR-2016Q2.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: January - March 2016 QPR-2016Q1.pdf Progress Report Public
Fourth TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations FourthTAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations.pdf Other Public
Quarterly Report: October- December 2015 QPR-2015Q4.pdf Progress Report Public
Third TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations Third TAC Meeting Agenda and Presentations.pdf Other Public
Quarterly Report: January - March 2015 QPR-2015Q1.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: October- December 2014 QPR-2014Q4.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: July - September 2014 QPR-2014Q3.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: April - June 2014 QPR-2014Q2.pdf Progress Report Public
Quarterly Report: January - March 2014 QPR-2014Q1.pdf Progress Report Public
Lead Agency Acceptance Memo TPF-5(282) Lead Agency Acceptance MemoSigned.pdf Memorandum Public
Statement of Work for FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 Other Public
Specifications of the TSD to be available for Demonstration Other Public
Quarterly Report: October - December 2013 QPR-2013Q4.pdf Progress Report Public
Title File/Link Type Private
Statement of Work for FHWA Contract Number DTFH61-12-C-00031 DTFH61-12-C-00031 - Statement of Work.pdf Other Public
Specifications of the TSD to be available for Demonstration TSD Details.pdf Other Public

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