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Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering

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A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 79337

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Patricia Kara De Maeijer

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Energy & Materials in Infrastructure & Buildings (EMIB), Faculty of Applied Engineering, University of Antwerp, 171 Groenenborgerlaan, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Interests: fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor monitoring systems; concrete technology; asphalt and bitumen; recycling of industrial wastes and byproducts
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Dear Colleagues,

Pavement engineering uses engineering techniques to design and maintain flexible (asphalt) and rigid (concrete) pavements. Pavement design has gradually evolved within the last century. Prior to the early 1920s, for example, the thickness of pavement was based purely on experience, in the late 1990s, it was already based on application of various developed methods for determining the required thickness of the pavement. The acquired real information regarding traffic and climate in pavement design was possible due to move from empirical methods to mechanistic empirical methods in pavement design, where sound principles were used, for example, to predict stress and strain. Nowadays, a certain difference in quality between designed and constructed pavements is still observed. Therefore, current pavement design, construction and maintenance requirements must be improved. This refers to: 1) real-time data collection (not prediction) from the current traffic intensity and loading, pavement behavior (stress and strain), pavement temperature at different layers, etc.; 2) effective pavement structural design; 3) pavement mix design; 4) pavement bituminous and alternative materials; and 5) application of innovative technologies for the pavement construction, compaction, monitoring and maintenance. Prof. André A.A. Molenaar mentioned during ISAP2018 that “in reality strain signals are completely different from what we use in our tests” but we can verify predicted stress and strain values with real-time values by the monitoring of pavements, for example, by means of installation of fiber Bragg grating sensors in pavement. In the era for industrial technology, asphalt and concrete materials can be integrated into the category of smart materials. Therefore, in a few years, asphalt and concrete industries will need to accommodate more to the innovative solutions for the construction and maintenance of pavements.

This Special Issue, “Recent Advance and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering”, aims to provide an overview of current innovative pavement engineering ideas, which have the potential to be implemented in industry in the future, covering all recent developments in pavement design, its construction and monitoring.

Ms. Patricia Kara De Maeijer
Guest Editor

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Keywords

effective pavement structural design
modelling
flexible and rigid pavements
mix design
bituminous and alternative materials
recycled asphalt materials
compaction
real-time monitoring
maintenance
specifications

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 155 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Special Issue: Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering

by Patricia Kara De Maeijer

Infrastructures 2020, 5(4), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures5040034 - 05 Apr 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3844

Abstract

This Special Issue “Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering” has been proposed and organized to present recent developments in the field of innovative pavement materials and engineering. For this reason, the articles and state-of-the-art reviews highlighted in this editorial relate to different aspects of pavement engineering, from recycled asphalt pavements to alkali-activated materials, from hot mix asphalt concrete to porous asphalt concrete, from interface bonding to modal analysis, from destructive testing to non-destructive pavement monitoring by using fiber optics sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

Research

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11 pages, 1282 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical and Experimental Investigations of Asphalt Pavement Behaviour, Taking into Account Interface Bonding Conditions

by Minh-Tu Le, Quang-Huy Nguyen and Mai Lan Nguyen

Infrastructures 2020, 5(2), 21; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures5020021 - 21 Feb 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4126

Abstract

The interface bond between layers plays an important role in the behavior of pavement structure. However, this aspect has not yet been adequately considered in the pavement analysis process due to the lack of advanced characterizations of actual condition. In many pavement design procedures, only completely bonded or unbounded interfaces between the layers are considered. For the purpose of the better evaluation of the asphalt pavement behavior, this work focused on its investigation taking into account the actual interface bonding condition between the asphalt layers. Based on the layered theory developed by Burmister (1943), the actual interaction between pavement layers was taken into account by introducing a horizontal shear reaction modulus which represents the interface bonding condition for a given state. The analytical solution was then implemented in a numerical program before doing forward calculations for sensitivity analysis which highlights the influence of the interface bonding conditions on the structural behaviors of asphalt pavement under a static load. Furthermore, the numerical program was applied through an original experimental case study where falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests were carried out on two full-scale pavement structures with or without a geogrid at the interface between the asphalt layers. Backcalculations of the FWD measurements allowed determining field condition of the interface bond between the asphalt layers. The obtained values of the interface shear modulus in pavement structure with a geogrid are smaller than the ones in pavement structure without geogrid. Moreover, all of these values representing field performance are at the same order of magnitude as those from dynamic interlayer shear testing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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13 pages, 1245 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Recycled Waste Powders for Alkali-Activated Paving Blocks for Urban Pavements: A Full Laboratory Characterization

by Piergiorgio Tataranni

Infrastructures 2019, 4(4), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4040073 - 22 Nov 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 5348

Abstract

Paving blocks are today a popular paving solution for urban surfaces. Considering the wide variety of products currently on the market, it is possible to build pavements that differ in terms of functionality, bearing capacity, skid resistance, visual impact, and aesthetic integration with the surrounding landscape. Interlocking concrete paving block is the most common construction technology considering its low cost and its easy installation. Different wastes and second-hand materials have recently been tested in order to completely or partially replace the raw materials used for the production of paving blocks. In this paper, a waste basalt powder is used for the production of alternative paving blocks through the alkali-activation process. Two different synthetic blocks were produced, with and without aggregates. Taking into account the EN 1338 standard for concrete paving blocks, a complete laboratory characterization is proposed for the two experimental blocks. Tests highlighted positive results and downsides that need to be optimized in order to convert the laboratory production to an industrial scale. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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23 pages, 8244 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Asphalt Mixtures Produced with Coarse and Fine Recycled Asphalt Particles

by S. Saeed Saliani, Alan Carter, Hassan Baaj and Pejoohan Tavassoti

Infrastructures 2019, 4(4), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4040067 - 26 Oct 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5659

Abstract

Utilizing recycled asphalt pavements (RAP) in pavement construction is known as a sustainable approach with significant economic and environmental benefits. While studying the effect of high RAP contents on the performance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixes has been the focus of several research projects, limited work has been done on studying the effect of RAP fraction and particle size on the overall performance of high RAP mixes produced solely with either coarse or fine RAP particles. To this end, three mixes including a conventional control mix with no RAP, a fine RAP mix (FRM) made with 35% percent fine RAP, and a coarse RAP mix (CRM) prepared with 54% of coarse RAP were designed and investigated in this study. These mixes were evaluated with respect to their rutting resistance, fatigue cracking resistance, and low temperature cracking performance. The results indicate that although the CRM had a higher RAP content, it exhibited better or at least the same performance than the FRM. The thermal stress restrained specimen testing (TSRST) results showed that the control mix performed slightly better than the CRM, while the FRM performance was adversely affected with respect to the transition temperature midpoint and the maximum tensile stress temperature. Both of the RAP incorporated mixes exhibited better rutting resistance than the control mix. With regard to fatigue cracking, the CRM performed better than the FRM. It can be concluded that the RAP particle size has a considerable effect on its contribution to the total binder content, the aggregate skeleton of the mix, and ultimately the performance of the mix. In spite of the higher RAP content in the CRM versus FRM, the satisfactory performance observed for the CRM mix indicates a great potential in producing high RAP content mixes through optimizing the RAP particle size and content. The results also suggest that the black curve gradation assumption is not representative of the actual RAP particles contribution in a high RAP mix. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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21 pages, 971 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Principal Component Neural Networks for Modeling, Prediction, and Optimization of Hot Mix Asphalt Dynamics Modulus

by Parnian Ghasemi, Mohamad Aslani, Derrick K. Rollins and R. Christopher Williams

Infrastructures 2019, 4(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4030053 - 17 Aug 2019

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6019

Abstract

The dynamic modulus of hot mix asphalt (HMA) is a fundamental material property that defines the stress-strain relationship based on viscoelastic principles and is a function of HMA properties, loading rate, and temperature. Because of the large number of efficacious predictors (factors) and their nonlinear interrelationships, developing predictive models for dynamic modulus can be a challenging task. In this research, results obtained from a series of laboratory tests including mixture dynamic modulus, aggregate gradation, dynamic shear rheometer (on asphalt binder), and mixture volumetric are used to create a database. The created database is used to develop a model for estimating the dynamic modulus. First, the highly correlated predictor variables are detected, then Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to first reduce the problem dimensionality, then to produce a set of orthogonal pseudo-inputs from which two separate predictive models were developed using linear regression analysis and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). These models are compared to existing predictive models using both statistical analysis and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Analysis. Empirically-based predictive models can behave differently outside of the convex hull of their input variables space, and it is very risky to use them outside of their input space, so this is not common practice of design engineers. To prevent extrapolation, an input hyper-space is added as a constraint to the model. To demonstrate an application of the proposed framework, it was used to solve design-based optimization problems, in two of which optimal and inverse design are presented and solved using a mean-variance mapping optimization algorithm. The design parameters satisfy the current design specifications of asphalt pavement and can be used as a first step in solving real-life design problems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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13 pages, 1993 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthetic Aggregates for the Production of Innovative Low Impact Porous Layers for Urban Pavements

by Piergiorgio Tataranni and Cesare Sangiorgi

Infrastructures 2019, 4(3), 48; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4030048 - 06 Aug 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5187

Abstract

According to the latest estimates, 40% of urban areas are covered by pavements. One of the most remarkable effects on the urban environment is the increase in impermeable surfaces which leads to problems related to water infiltration into the ground and the increase in wash-off volumes. The use of permeable and porous layers in urban applications for cycle lanes, footpaths and parking areas is growing in interest, increasing the potential for control and management of urban runoff. In this paper, a physical and mechanical characterization is proposed of an innovative mixture, prepared with a polymeric transparent binder for semi-porous layers with reduced contribution to the urban heat island effect. Two versions of this mixture are compared, one with just virgin and the one with artificial synthetic aggregates, produced through the alkali-activation of waste basalt powder. Results show suitable properties for both materials if compared to porous asphalt concretes in traditional pavements. Furthermore, the application of synthetic aggregates seems to be a viable solution for the production of innovative and eco-friendly mixtures, allowing the recycling of waste materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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12 pages, 1686 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sensitivity of the Flow Number to Mix Factors of Hot-Mix Asphalt

by Md Rashadul Islam, Sylvester A. Kalevela and Shelby K. Nesselhauf

Infrastructures 2019, 4(2), 34; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4020034 - 07 Jun 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5750

Abstract

In the design of pavement infrastructure, the flow number is used to determine the suitability of a hot-mix asphalt mixture (HMA) to resist permanent deformation when used in flexible pavement. This study investigates the sensitivity of the flow numbers to the mix factors of eleven categories of HMAs used in flexible pavements. A total of 105 specimens were studied for these eleven categories of HMAs. For each category of asphalt mixture, the variations in flow number for different contractors, binder types, effective binder contents, air voids, voids in mineral aggregates, voids filled with asphalt, and asphalt contents were assessed statistically. The results show that the flow numbers for different types of HMA used in Colorado vary from 47 to 2272. The same mix may have statistically different flow numbers, regardless of the contractor. The flow number increases with increasing effective binder content, air voids, voids in mineral aggregates, voids filled with asphalt, and asphalt content in the study range of these parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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15 pages, 6184 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Determination of Layers Responsible for Rutting Failure in a Pavement Structure

by Nathan Chilukwa and Richard Lungu

Infrastructures 2019, 4(2), 29; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4020029 - 26 May 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6743

Abstract

Rutting is one of the most common distresses in asphalt pavements in Zambia. The problem is particularly prevalent at intersections, bus stops, railway crossings, police checkpoints, climbing lanes and other heavily loaded sections, where there is deceleration, slow moving or static loading. The most widely used methods to identify the source of rutting among flexible pavement layers are destructive methods; field trenching and coring methods. The Transverse Profile Analysis method (TPAM), which is a non-destructive method, was suggested by White et al. in 2002 as an alternative method, to avoid the expensive and destructive nature of the traditional methods. In this method, data from the transverse profile of the rutted section is used to deduce the layer of the pavement structure responsible for rutting failure. This study used the TPAM to determine the layers of pavement responsible for rutting on sections of the Chibuluma and Kitwe-Chingola Roads in Zambia. The method was first validated using the trenching method on the Kitwe-Ndola Road. Results from the TPAM showed good comparability with those from the trenching method. It was established that most of the rutting emanated from the surfacing layer. This is consistent with recent research indicating that most rutting occurs in the upper part of the asphalt surfacing. It was also established that the TPAM was a simpler, faster and less costly method of determining the source of rutting failure compared to the traditional methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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13 pages, 4776 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of Recovered Bitumen from Coarse and Fine Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Particles

by Saeed S. Saliani, Alan Carter, Hassan Baaj and Peter Mikhailenko

Infrastructures 2019, 4(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4020024 - 11 May 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 6695

Abstract

In the current era of road construction, it is common to add a small amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) in asphalt mixes without significantly changing properties such as stiffness and low-temperature cracking resistance. Not only can these mixes be better for the environment, but they can also improve certain properties like rutting resistance. However, there is no clear understanding of how RAP gradation and bitumen properties impact the mixture properties. In this study, a single RAP source was separated into coarse and fine particles and added into a hot mix asphalt (HMA). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry was used to evaluate the chemical properties of the bitumen, while environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) image analysis was used to visualize the differences of the virgin and RAP bitumen at a microscopic level. The observed results indicated that the recovered bitumen from coarse RAP did not have the same characteristics as the fine RAP bitumen, and the interaction of RAP bitumen with virgin bitumen significantly depended on RAP particle size. The amount of active RAP bitumen in coarse RAP particles was higher than in fine RAP particles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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14 pages, 8083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Peat Fibers and Finely Ground Peat Powder for Application in Asphalt

by Patricia Kara De Maeijer, Hilde Soenen, Wim Van den bergh, Johan Blom, Geert Jacobs and Jan Stoop

Infrastructures 2019, 4(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4010003 - 04 Jan 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5770

Abstract

In this study, the feasibility of a natural peat fiber and finely ground peat powder as a modifier for bitumen was investigated. Initially, the as-received peat material was characterized in detail: the material was ground to various degrees, separated into fiber and powder fractions, and the gradation of the powder fraction as well as the size of the fibers were determined. A possible solubility in bitumen, the moisture content, and the density of both fractions were evaluated, and a limited chemical characterization of the fibers was conducted. Secondly, the rheological behavior of the powder and the fibers when blended with bitumen was evaluated. Additionally, a limited asphalt study was conducted. The rheological data showed the stiffening effects of the powder fraction and the presence of a fiber network, which were obvious as a plateau modulus towards lower frequencies. The fiber network was strain-dependent and showed elastic effects. This was further confirmed by the multiple stress creep recovery (MSCRT) tests. These tests also indicated that the fibers should improve the rutting resistance, although it was not possible to confirm this in asphalt rutting tests. Asphalt drainage tests demonstrated that adding dry peat, whether this is ground or not, is effective in reducing the binder drainage. However, the data also revealed that the amount of added peat fibers and powder should be limited to avoid difficulties in the compaction of these asphalt mixes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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9 pages, 1472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comparative Study of Laser Doppler Vibrometers for Vibration Measurements on Pavement Materials

by Navid Hasheminejad, Cedric Vuye, Wim Van den bergh, Joris Dirckx and Steve Vanlanduit

Infrastructures 2018, 3(4), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures3040047 - 01 Nov 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6277

Abstract

A laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) is a noncontact optical measurement device to measure the vibration velocities of particular points on the surface of an object. Even though LDV has become more popular in road engineering in recent years, their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is strongly dependent on light scattering properties of the surface which, in some cases, needs to be properly conditioned. SNR is the main limitation in LDV instrumentation when measuring on low diffusive surfaces like pavements; therefore, an investigation on the SNR of different LDV devices on different surface conditions is of great importance. The objective of this research is to investigate the quality of two types of commercially available LDV systems—helium–neon (He–Ne)-based vibrometers and recently developed infrared vibrometers—on different surface conditions, i.e., retroreflective tape, white tape, black tape, and asphalt concrete. Both noise floor and modal analysis experiments are carried out on these surface conditions. It is shown that the noise floor of the He–Ne LDV is higher when dealing with a noncooperative dark surface, such as asphalt concrete, and it can be improved by improving the surface quality or by using an infrared LDV, which consequently improves the modal analysis experiments performed on pavement materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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Review

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27 pages, 1439 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Fundamental Approaches to Predict Moisture Damage in Asphalt Mixtures: State-of-the-Art Review

by Hilde Soenen, Stefan Vansteenkiste and Patricia Kara De Maeijer

Infrastructures 2020, 5(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures5020020 - 21 Feb 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4987

Abstract

Moisture susceptibility is still one of the primary causes of distress in flexible pavements, reducing the pavements’ durability. A very large number of tests are available to evaluate the susceptibility of a binder aggregate combination. Tests can be conducted on the asphalt mixture, either in a loose or compacted form, or on the individual components of an asphalt pavement. Apart from various mechanisms and models, fundamental concepts have been proposed to calculate the thermodynamic tendency of a binder aggregate combination to adhere and/or debond under wet conditions. The aim of this review is to summarize literature findings and conclusions, regarding these concepts as carried out in the CEDR project FunDBits. The applied test methods, the obtained results, and the validation or predictability of these fundamental approaches are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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16 pages, 2702 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fiber Optics Sensors in Asphalt Pavement: State-of-the-Art Review

by Patricia Kara De Maeijer, Geert Luyckx, Cedric Vuye, Eli Voet, Wim Van den bergh, Steve Vanlanduit, Johan Braspenninckx, Nele Stevens and Jurgen De Wolf

Infrastructures 2019, 4(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures4020036 - 20 Jun 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 8976

Abstract

Pavement design is essentially and usually a structural long-term evaluation process which is needed to ensure that traffic loads are efficiently distributed at all levels of the total road structure. Furthermore, to get a complete analysis of its durability behavior, long-term monitoring should be facilitated, not only from the top by falling weight deflectometer (FWD) or core drilling but preferably from inside the structure and at exactly the same positions during a long-time interval. Considering that it is very hard to devise an efficient method to determine realistic in-situ mechanical properties of pavements, the determination of strain at the bottom of asphalt pavement layers through non-destructive tests is of a great interest. As it is known, fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors are the most promising candidates to effectively replace conventional strain gauges for a long-term monitoring application in a harsh environment. The main goals of this paper are to compile an overview of the recent developments worldwide in the application of fiber optics sensors (FOS) in asphalt pavement monitoring systems; to find out if those systems provide repeatable and suitable results for a long-term monitoring; if there are certain solutions to validate an inverse modelling approach based on the results of FWD and FOS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances and Future Trends in Pavement Engineering)

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