Determination of Performance Jumps for Treatments of Asphalt Pavements in North Carolina’s Pavement Management System

Abstract

This research was conducted to determine pavement performance jumps after treatment, which are defined as the difference between pretreatment and post-treatment Pavement Condition Rating (PCR) values of asphalt pavements. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) resets the PCR of sections to its highest value of 100 after overlay-type treatments are applied. However, the condition of a pavement after treatment depends on the treatment applied, indicating that the PCR after treatment can be less than 100. This research was conducted to investigate the magnitudes of pavement performance jumps caused by most common types of treatment utilized by the NCDOT. The data for this research were collected by surveys and divided into treatment families. Pretreatment and post-treatment PCR values were calculated to determine the performance jumps, and after-treatment performance curves were developed. The results indicated that post-treatment asphalt performance curves’ intercepts are not 100; the values are 92.8, 90.0, 87.8, and 84.6 for asphalt-cement (AC) Construction/Reconstruction, Resurface, Mill+Resurface, and Chip Seal, respectively. These jumps, along with the performance curves, can provide better prediction of the condition of pavement over its lifetime after a treatment is applied and assist not only NCDOT engineers but also engineers in other state DOTs in developing effective treatment plans.