Results of Long-Term Pavement Performance SPS-3 Analysis: Preventive Maintenance of Flexible Pavements: [techbrief]

2011PDFTech Reporthttps://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/pavements/ltpp/11049/index.cfmFHWA-HRT-11-049Flexible pavementsPavement performancePavement maintenanceRehabilitation (Maintenance)United StatesUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research, Development, and TechnologyUnited States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research, Development, and TechnologyTurner-Fairbank Highway Research CenterWiser, LarryFederal Highway AdministrationThis document is a technical summary of the Federal Highway Administration report, Impact of Design Features on Pavement Response and Performance in Rehabilitated Flexible and Rigid Pavements (FHWA-HRT-10-066). Rehabilitation and pavement preservation represent the majority of pavement construction activity in the United States. Preventive maintenance includes treatments that are applied to pavements primarily to delay development of and mitigate existing distresses. These treatments focus on improving pavement functional performance and prolonging pavement life, not on improving the structural capacity. Selecting the appropriate maintenance technique and treatment application timing form the basis of a preventive maintenance practice. In addition to a nontreated control section, the Specific Pavement Study (SPS)-3 experiment included the following four maintenance treatment alternatives: Thin hot mix asphalt overlay (typically 1 inch (25.4 mm) or less). Slurry seal. Crack seal. Chip seal. Additionally, each site was categorized according to the following five design factors: Moisture (wet or dry climate). Temperature (freeze or no-freeze zone). Subgrade type (fine grained or coarse grained). Traffic loading (low or high). Existing pavement condition (good, fair, or poor). This experimental design resulted in 48 different experimental combinations of factors. In total, 33 States and Canadian Provinces participated in the experiment, and 81 sites were constructed and monitored for the assessment.79