Assessment of Overlay Roughness in Long-Term Pavement Performance Test Sites: Canadian Case Study

Abstract

A study was conducted on asphalt pavement overlay performance in the Canadian environment. It investigated the impact of asphalt overlay thickness, climatic zone, and subgrade type on the progression of roughness as described by the international roughness index (IRI). Data from the Canadian Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) test sites were analyzed. As a result of the investigation, pavement factors that significantly impact overlay performance in the Canadian environment were identified. Data collected over the first 13 years of study were used to show national and provincial roughness trends from 53 test sites. The IRI data were statistically summarized (mean, standard deviation) for each category by the age of the overlay section. With the summarized data, regression analysis was used to determine an equation that best describes the progression of roughness. Two-factor analysis of variance was used to determine if there were any significant differences within specific categories. The results of the regression analysis were compared with the Canadian Strategic Highway Research Project LTPP to confirm the validity of the roughness progression equations. Results show that overlay thickness and climatic zones significantly impact the roughness, while subgrade type has little influence on the IRI values. The roughness progression equations achieved squared correlation coefficients ( R2) between 0.93 and 0.39, demonstrating the accuracy of the model equations.