Interstate 64 Pavement Recycling Instrumentation and Monitoring

About the report:

During the past two decades, the implementation of pavement recycling techniques, such as cold central plant recycling and full-depth reclamation, for pavement rehabilitation and construction in the United States has been driven by positive performance and the opportunity for significant cost and environmental savings. However, these recycling techniques are not commonly implemented because of the need for long-term performance information and a better understanding of the interactions between material properties, traffic configuration, and environmental conditions. This report presents the measured pavement responses (strains and stresses) of two recycled pavement sections on Interstate 64 in Virginia, incorporating cold central plant recycling and full-depth reclamation, which were subjected to real-world environmental and traffic-loading conditions. This work was completed to improve the understanding of the structural performance of pavements with recycled materials.

During this study, a suite of sensors—including strain gauges, pressure cells, thermocouples, and time domain reflectometry probes—was installed during the construction of two recycled pavement sections built on Interstate 64 near Williamsburg, Virginia. The first instrumented recycled pavement section was tested 13 times from 2019 to 2023, and the second recycled section was tested seven times from 2021 to 2023. Three to four trucks with known loading were driven over the instrumented sections during each field measurement event as part of the public traffic stream, and the responses from the instrumentation were recorded. In addition, the pavement structures were modeled using layered elastic software to compare the measured and calculated responses and refine the assumed mechanical properties of the materials used in the pavement structures. This study showed that the pavement sections had low strain, pressure, and deflection results and are expected to have a long structural life. The instrumentation was also found to be generally functional after 5 years and may be capable of providing additional performance information.

_{Disclaimer Statement:The contents of this report reflect the views of the author(s), who is responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Commonwealth Transportation Board, or the Federal Highway Administration. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Any inclusion of manufacturer names, trade names, or trademarks is for identification purposes only and is not to be considered an endorsement.}

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