Measuring Performance of Innovative Pavement Features

The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) conducts annual examinations of the state\u27s interstate and federal highway pavements. During these examinations, numerous indicators of pavement performance are measured directly or compiled from parameters recorded by a vehicle passing over the pavement section. Parameters are documented and analyzed for each one-tenth mile pavement segment. Seven sections where innovative features have been incorporated into the pavement were selected by the NDOR for comparison to nearby conventional pavement sections. This study used various parameters recorded by the NDOR as well as field observations to compare the performance of seven pairs of pavement sections. Each pair contained one section of pavement with innovative features and a second section of more conventional design. Pavement performance indicators measured and analyzed included Nebraska Serviceability Index, International Roughness Index, Present Serviceability Index, cracking index, rutting and faulting, plus longitudinal and transverse cracking. The study indicates that pavement sections that had innovative features incorporated generally performed better than pavement sections where more conventional design was used