Evaluation for Microsurfacing as Pavement Preservation Treatment

Abstract

Over the years, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) has changed its emphasis from construction to preservation of public highways. As such, there is great interest in assessing cost efficacy of a pavement preservation strategy. This paper aims to present the functional and structural benefits of microsurfacing applications at highway sections in Indiana. To achieve this goal, comprehensive monitoring and data analysis was performed using the pavement condition rating (PCR), structure number (SN), and surface roughness [international roughness index (IRI)] for in situ performance evaluation. According to the deflection and roughness analysis, an improvement was observed in SN and IRI during the early life of the pavement. Furthermore, no significant difference was obtained over the following 2 years. Application of the microsurfacing resulted in a significant rise in PCR and SN and decline in IRI. A similar result was found at the resurfacing site. Pavement with microsurface sections had stable roughness with only a 2-point increase every year. The two control sections (SR-68 and SR-145) have had 4-point increases on average. The IRI for SR-58 resurfacing was