Pavements Team
About the team:
The Pavements Team conducts and applies research on innovative materials and methods to create pavement systems that are safe, sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible. VTRC researchers study the fundamentals of material and system behavior, applying these insights to improve long-term performance. Increasingly, the program addresses the environmental impacts of pavement construction, reconstruction, maintenance, and preservation. The team also collaborates with safety engineers and economists to connect pavement characteristics with broader societal costs, including crashes and fuel consumption.
Key focus areas include:
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Material and pavement system design
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Recycling and reclamation
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Construction quality assurance, acceptance, and payment
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Structural and functional evaluation
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Maintenance, preservation, and management
The team is supported by the Pavement Research Advisory Committee (PaveRAC), which operates through four subcommittees that provide guidance in specialized technical areas.
- Pavement Preservation and Management
- Asphalt Plant Mix Performance and Construction
- Pavement Foundations, Rigid Components, and Recycling
- Pavement Design, Analysis, and Accelerated Testing
Current Pavements Projects
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Pavement Structural Evaluation with Traffic Speed Deflection Devices (TSDDs) Pooled Fund Study TPF5-385
Project No: 114421 -
Pavement Friction Management Program Implementation (Phase 3) - District-Level Deploymen
Project No: 118900 -
I-64 Recycled Pavement Monitoring
Project No: 122323 -
Reflective Crack Mitigation Strategies In Virginia - Performance Review
Project No: 122357 -
Design Resilient Modulus for Coarse-Grained Subgrade Soils
Project No: 122364 -
Sustainable Surface Mixtures Incorporating Recycled Plastic Waste and High RAP Contents
Project No: 122604 -
Increasing Service Lives of Full Depth Reclamation Treatments
Project No: 122696 -
FHWA Climate Challenge
Project No: 124057 -
Resilience Program: Preliminary Investigation of Bridge Scour Countermeasure and Mitigation Strategies in Virginia
Project No: 124060-RC00175 -
Evaluation of Moisture Susceptibility of Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) Mixes
Project No: 124060-RC00181 -
Resiliency Assessment of Flood Damage in Pavements
Project No: 124060-RC00191 -
Resilience Approaches for Pavements and Geotechnical Assets
Project No: 124157 -
Field Validation of Balanced Mix Design Initial Criteria
Project No: 124332 -
Developing a Balanced Mix Design (BMD) Framework for SBS Modified Dense-Graded Asphalt Surface Mixtures – Phase I
Project No: 124333 -
Evaluation of Spray-on Rejuvenators - Field Trials
Project No: 124401 -
Ruggedness Study of Specimen Preparation and Fine-Tuning of Test Methods for IDT-CT and IDT-HT
Project No: 124496 -
Implementation of Structural Data from Traffic Speed Deflection Devices
Project No: 124752 -
Establishing Polishing Values of Aggregates for Use in Surface Asphalt Mixtures – Laboratory Evaluation
Project No: 124839 -
Phase II: Google Earth/Street Level Imagery for Rock Cut Slope Inventory and Rockfall Hazard Rating
Project No: 125814 -
Documentation of 2024 Balanced Mix Design Implementation
Project No: 126084 -
Evaluation of Thick Lift Asphalt Paving
Project No: 126213 -
A Follow Up Evaluation of the Concrete Pavements (US 58) Rehabilitated in 2012
Project No: 126246 -
Evaluating the Impact of Volumetric Properties and Reheating on the Balanced Mix Design Test Results
Project No: 126581 -
Analysis of 2018-2024 Network Level Pavement Structural Testing with the TSD
Project No: 126825 -
Field Performance of High RAP Mixtures
Project No: 126826 -
Verifying the Indirect Tensile at High Temperature (IDT-HT) Test Performance Criterion: A Multi-scale Investigation Integrating Laboratory, Full-Scale Accelerated Pavement Testing, and Field Evaluations
Project No: 127210 -
Use of Carbonate Aggregates in Pavement Preservation Treatments
Project No: 127240 -
Evaluation of Cement Treated Aggregate (CTA) and Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) In-Service Performance and Pavement Design Inputs
Project No: 127472 -
Local Calibration of AASHTOWare-ME Towards VDOT MEPDG Upgrade to Web-Based Version for New Pavement Design
Project No: 127475 -
Field Performance Assessment of Chip Seals with Updated Chip Seal Specification and Fog Seal Treatment
Project No: 127562
Team Leader
Hari Nair, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Director for Pavements
Harikrishnan.Nair@VDOT.Virginia.gov(434) 293-1948
Team Members
- Andrew Barbour
- Brian K. Diefenderfer, Ph.D., P.E.
- Derek Lister
- Harikrishnan Nair, Ph.D., P.E.
- Ilker Boz, Ph.D., P.E.
- Jennifer L. Samuels
- Kazuo Kuchiishi, Ph.D.
- M. Shabbir Hossain, Ph.D., P.E.
- Stacey D. Diefenderfer, Ph.D., P.E.
- Troy H. Deeds
Last updated: August 14, 2025