Forensic Evaluation of Premature Pavement Failures in Arkansas

Abstract

As part of a major rehabilitation program in 1999–24, several sections of the Arkansas interstate system were overlaid. Some of these sections experienced severe distresses (rutting and cracking), but the others performed well. The objective of the study is to evaluate the root causes of the poorly performing pavements. Consequently, historical data were analyzed and mechanistic tests were performed on collected core samples from existing pavements in order to establish correlations with parameters influencing the aforementioned distresses. The binder contents in good-performing, poor-performing, and medium-performing sections were approximately the same. Asphalt binders’ excessive aging, mixtures’ dust to binder content ratios, and in-place air voids of the poor-performing sections were found to be major causes of premature failures of the poor-performing sections. The findings of the study are expected to be a good pavement management tool for pavement maintenance actions.