Techniques for Extending the Life of Low-Volume Roads in Seasonal Frost Areas

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen A. Kestler
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Heavy Vehicles ◽  
Alternative Design ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
Design Techniques

Major highways are designed to withstand heavy vehicles and high traffic volumes year round. However, low-volume roads (LVRs) in seasonal frost areas are extremely susceptible to damage from trafficking by heavy vehicles during spring thaw. As a result, the maintenance-free life of an LVR in a seasonal frost area averages less than half that of a similar road in a nonfrost area. This study serves as a practical primer on addressing thaw weakening of LVRs: it offers guidance for identifying frost-susceptible soils, summarizes methods used and currently undergoing research to determine when conditions are critical, and provides several solutions for avoiding the costly impact of spring thaw on LVRs. Diagnostic tools and recommended road-usage techniques are provided for existing roads; alternative design techniques are presented for new and reconstructed roads. Tools and techniques are applicable across much of Europe, North America, and Asia; some also apply to wet areas outside seasonal frost areas.

Otta Seals and Gravseals as Low-Cost Surfacing Alternatives for Low-Volume Roads: Experiences in South Africa

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 338-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Oloo ◽  
Rob Lindsay ◽  
Sam Mothilal
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
To Come

The geology of the northeastern part of the province of KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa, is predominantly alluvial with vast deposits of sands. Suitable gravel sources are hard to come by, which results in high graveling and regraveling costs brought about by long haul distances and accelerated gravel loss. Most gravel roads carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day of which less than 10% are heavy vehicles. The high cost of regraveling has led to consideration of upgrading such roads to surfaced standard, even though traffic volumes do not justify upgrading. Traditional chip seals are expensive and cannot be economically justified on roads that carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day. The KwaZulu–Natal Department of Transport is actively involved in efforts to identify cost-effective alternative surfacing products for low-volume roads. Field trials were conducted with Otta seals and Gravseals, which have been used successfully in other countries, as low-cost surfacing products for low-volume roads. The Otta seal is formed by placing graded aggregates on a relatively thick film of soft binder that, because of traffic and rolling, works its way through the aggregates. Gravseal consists of a special semipriming rubberized binder that is covered by a graded aggregate. Both Otta seals and Gravseals provide relatively flexible bituminous surfaces suitable for low-volume roads. Cost savings are derived mainly from the broad aggregate specifications, which allow for the use of marginal materials.

Surface rutting of thin pavements and gravel roads under standard and reduced tire inflation pressures

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 679-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Shalaby ◽  
Alan Reggin
Keyword(s):  
Low Pressure ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Thin Membrane ◽  
Heavy Vehicles ◽  
Tire Pressure ◽  
The Road ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Pavement Service Life ◽  
Partnership Program

In Canada, over 300 heavy vehicles equipped with central tire inflation systems are being used in forestry, mining, and grain hauling. Since 1995, Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation has permitted truck fleets to operate with primary highway axle loads on secondary highways under a partnership program. This paper reports on the comparison of rutting progression on an accelerated field experiment utilizing standard and reduced tire pressures. The experiment was conducted by Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation in the Big Quill Lake area of southern Saskatchewan. The vehicles used in the experiment were nine-axle B trains, eight-axle B trains, and six-axle semi-trailers. The statistical analysis of rutting data presented in the paper shows that reduced tire pressures can effectively extend the pavement service life of gravel and thin membrane surfaced roads. On the thin membrane pavements, there was less rutting on the low-pressure lane until twice as many vehicles had trafficked the road, and rutting was no worse on the low-pressure lane even when 10 times as many vehicles had trafficked the road. On the gravel surface, rut depth was lower on the low-pressure lane until twice as many trucks had trafficked that lane.Key words: rutting, pavement, central tire inflation, tire pressure, low-volume roads, unsurfaced roads.

Can Spring Load Restrictions on Low-Volume Roads be Shortened without Increasing Road Damage?

2005 ◽  
Vol 1913 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-136
Author(s):  
Maureen A. Kestler ◽  
Richard L. Berg ◽  
John E. Haddock
Keyword(s):  
Evaluation Model ◽  
Conventional Technique ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Heavy Vehicles ◽  
Tire Pressure ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
General Application ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Pavement Structures

Major highways are designed to withstand heavy vehicles and high volumes of traffic year round. However, low-volume roads in seasonal frost areas are highly susceptible to damage from trafficking by heavy vehicles during spring thaw. Conventional practice is to place partial or full spring load restrictions on low-volume roads during spring thaw. This practice reduces road damage significantly. However, companies whose livelihood depends on trucking can suffer major economic losses as they await the removal of load restrictions. Using reduced tire pressure constitutes a less conventional technique that can reduce springtime damage. Reducing tire pressure generally appears to be less effective than reducing load. Nevertheless, it does appear that the load restriction window can be shortened in duration by implementing a reduction in tire pressure for a few weeks, starting toward the latter part of the standard spring load restriction period. With a mechanistic pavement design and evaluation model for seasonal frost areas, a critical combination of load and tire pressure reduction was developed; it contributes to optimizing the balance between minimizing springtime road damage and minimizing disruption to local economies caused by load restrictions. This analysis constitutes the first step in the development of simplified, general application guidelines for shortening the springtime load restriction window for a variety of pavement structures.

Meeting Challenges of Rural Road Management Caused by Decreasing Population and Changes in Industrial Structure

2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juha Parantainen ◽  
Antti Meriläinen
Keyword(s):  
Road Network ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Production Structure ◽  
Road Management ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Permanent Residents ◽  
Basic Level ◽  
Adequate Condition

The most pronounced characteristics of rural development in Finland in the 1990s include the concentration of population in cities as well as changes in the industrial and production structure. Outlying areas of eastern, northern, and central Finland have experienced the most significant absolute and relative decreases in population in recent years. A 73% share of state-owned public roads and private roads (the lowvolume road network) is located in the areas of decreasing population. Traffic volumes will decline on low-volume roads as rural population decreases and will significantly affect the economy of low-volume road management in the future. In the areas of decreasing population, the greatest problem is to maintain the low-volume road network in adequate condition with reasonable costs to serve permanent residents and the transport needs of agriculture and forestry. The most important measures for meeting the challenges of decreasing population include the allocation of sufficient funding for the management of low-volume roads, which will provide for the basic level of service to meet the necessary needs of citizens and enterprises. Furthermore, a system of “just-for-need road management” should be adopted more widely in the management of low-volume roads. Through this system, the scarce financial resources of public low-volume road management would be allocated as efficiently as possible to meet demand by time and location. It should be noted, however, that savings through just-for-need road management are not necessarily significant, and in some cases costs may even increase. For this reason, each low-volume road segment should be examined separately.

Study & Experimental Analysis of Pervious Concrete In Low Volume Roads

2018 ◽  
pp. 172-176
Author(s):  
Suraj Pinate ◽  
Hitesh Sonawane ◽  
Jayesh Barhate ◽  
Mayur Chaudhari ◽  
Utkarsha Dhok ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Analysis ◽  
Pervious Concrete ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Low Volume

Comparison of Superpave and Marshall Mixtures for Low-Volume Roads and Shoulders

1998 ◽  
Vol 1609 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Affan Habib ◽  
Mustaque Hossain ◽  
Rajesh Kaldate ◽  
Glenn Fager
Keyword(s):  
Mix Design ◽  
River Sand ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Superpave Gyratory Compactor ◽  
Asphalt Content ◽  
Low Volume ◽  
Project Site ◽  
Axle Loads ◽  
Crushed Limestone ◽  
Asphalt Film

Superpave and Marshall mix designs using local aggregates were done to study the suitability of the Superpave mix design as compared with the Marshall mix design for low-volume roads, especially shoulders. The project site was Kansas Route 177 in northeast Kansas. Three locally available aggregates, crushed limestone and coarse and fine river sands, were used in this study. Five blends with varying proportions of coarse and fine river sands were selected. Mix samples were compacted in the Superpave gyratory compactor with the applicable number of gyrations and were compacted with the Marshall hammer by using 50 blows per face. Bulk densities of the compacted samples and maximum specific gravities of loose samples also were measured for each blend. The results show that the Superpave mix design for low-volume roads and shoulders results in lower estimated asphalt content than does the Marshall method. The required asphalt content increases as the proportion of coarse river sand increases in the mix. Superpave requirements for the voids filled with asphalt (VFA) for low-volume traffic, that is, less than 0.3 million equivalent single-axle loads, appeared to be too high. High asphalt film thicknesses were computed for the mixtures that did not meet the Superpave VFA requirements. Lowering the design number of gyrations (Ndes) for compaction of samples would result in increased asphalt requirement for the Superpave mixture with a given gradation.

Rational Approach to the Evaluation of Soils for Low-Volume Roads

2011 ◽  
Vol 2205 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Washington Peres Núñez ◽  
Jorge Augusto Pereira Ceratti ◽  
Luiz Antônio Bressani ◽  
Rinaldo José Barbosa Pinheiro ◽  
Vinicius Peraça ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rational Approach ◽  
Low Volume Roads ◽  
Low Volume
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