Comprehensive Drainage and Material Characterization

About the project:

Due to the water-driven climatic events (i.e., precipitation, flooding, and storm surge), water may intrude in pavement surface layer through cracks and joints, and if not drained completely from surface layer, the entrapped water continues to degrade the surface layer material through different mechanisms such as moisture-induced damage, asphalt stripping etc. As a result, structural integrity of surface layer is compromised, leading to generation of various distresses types on pavement surface.

While researchers and industry have been promoting inclusion of permeable/porous materials in both asphalt and concrete pavements in the recent years to mitigate the water entrapment issue due to the enhanced drainage capacity, there are some questions/concerns regarding the application such as: (a) road/facility types that can consider the inclusion of permeable materials, (b) structural capacity, durability, and serviceable life of permeable materials, (c) drainage capacity against heavy inflow due to flooding or storm surge, and (d) possible compromise of drainage performance due to clogging issue.

To this end, there is a need for comprehensive material and drainage characterization of pavement surface layer materials (that includes both permeable materials and commonly used materials for pavement surface in Virginia roadways) to explore potential mitigation.

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