ltpp lessons learned: national experiment tuesday december 16, 2014 bismarck, nd jack springer, p.e....

LTPP Lessons Learned: National Experiment

Tuesday December 16, 2014Bismarck, ND

Jack Springer, P.E. - FHWA Gabe Cimini, PM LTPP - NCRSC

Lessons Learned Overview

Program Benefits and Return on Investment Construction Effects on PCC Pavement

Performance Specific SPS-2 Lessons Learned

Pavement Performance Pavement Design Materials Testing Data Collection

Future Benefits

LTPP Benefits

The LTPP program has generated a wide range of benefits all across the pavement engineering and

performance spectrum.

Return on InvestmentLTPP by the Numbers

LTPP Resource Statistics

Requests for Data 48,000 Requests

Registered LTPP Website Users 3,000 Users (in 75 Countries)

Published Documents Resulting from LTPP Data

500+ Publications

ASCE Paper Contest 60 Entries

Distress Manuals 20+ State Agencies

FWD Calibration Centers 500+ Calibrations

WIM Systems 550+ Installations

SPS Traffic Pooled Fund Study Installations 21 WIM Sites Installed

MRL Materials 2,000,000 Pounds Available

MRL Shipments 17,000 Pounds Delivered

The numerous innovations that have directly resulted from the LTPP program include procedures, tools, manuals, and research

findings that have been implemented across the United States and abroad.

Return on InvestmentCost Savings

Savings To Date

Projected Cumulative Future Savings

(2015-2024)

No Additional Monitoring

Continued Monitoring

$2.1 Billion $2.28 Billion $4.56 Billion

LTPP has already realized over $2 Billion in savings, with the potential for even greater future savings.

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Pavement Performance

Standardizing AVC and WIM data storage formats (Card 4 and Card 7, respectively)

The initial IRI of SPS-2 sections after placement ranged from 0.76 to 2.19 m/km with a mean of 1.30 m/km

Increased roughness, faulting and transverse cracking are more prevalent in wet climates

Pavements located in areas of higher annual freeze-thaw cycles experience more spalling

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Pavement Design

Widened slab sections show less faulting than conventional width slabs

Sections with aggregate base show the highest joint faulting level. Sections with LCB and PATB have the lowest joint faulting

Thinner (203 mm) slabs show more transverse cracks than thicker slabs. Sections with a thinner slab and a widened slab show the highest level of transverse cracking

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Pavement Design (cont.)

JPCP constructed on PATB were smoother than sections constructed on LCB or untreated aggregate base

Sections with PATB show the lowest total longitudinal cracking levels, while the sections with LCB show the highest longitudinal cracking

Sections with PATB show the lowest percentage of slabs cracked transversely, while the sections with an LCB show the highest transverse cracking


In general, LCB provided the worst performance and PATB over DGAB provided the best performance

Longitudinal cracking was influenced by base type and slab thickness

Widened lanes contributed to lower transverse joint faulting


Thicker slabs were found to have more initial roughness as compared to thinner slabs

The presence of drainage was the driving factor of change in roughness with time. Sections with drainage showed a slower increase in roughness than those without drainage

900 PSI sections typically show map cracking and 550 PSI sections typically show polished aggregate

14’ lane = 1” of thickness


Rigid Pavement Design

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Materials Testing

JPCP constructed on coarse-grained soil were smoother (lower initial IRI) than those constructed on fine-grained soils

PCC slabs placed on LCB displayed the largest amounts of curling and slabs placed on ATB displayed the smallest amounts of curling

Concrete performed the worst with a lean concrete base (LCB) and the best with an asphalt treated base (ATB)

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Materials Testing (cont.)

Six inches of LCB has approximately the same stiffness as 8 inches of ATB, both of which are less stiff than 8 inches of dense graded aggregate base (DGAB)

Creating the Materials Reference Library—which allows researchers to obtain and test materials used in constructing specific LTPP sections

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Materials Testing (cont.)

Collecting periodic non-destructive testing measurements to allow the backcalculation of in-situ moduli

Developing standardized laboratory and field testing protocols

Providing materials data for calibrating M-E PDG damage functions and performing M-E PDG pavement designs

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Data Collection

The IRI trend over time depends heavily on the initial IRI, the traffic loadings, and the extent of joint faulting

Loads below design table ($2 million) Standardizing data collection and quality

control practicesPavement distressAutomated profileFWD

SPS-2 Lessons Learned—Data Collection

Indiana Department of Transportation found that an FWD that was only 1 mil out of calibration resulted in additional construction and maintenance costs of $17,000 per mile

“…We see the LTPP database serving into the indefinite future as a key component of the agency’s pavement research activities, and those activities will benefit substantially from the many LTPP data collection and analysis activities in FY 2010 -FY 2015 that are mentioned in the FHWA document.”

Victor Mendez, ChairmanTwenty-third letter report of the Transportation Research Board Long-Term

Pavement Performance Committee

Future BenefitsLooking forward, there are many potential benefits LTPP can provide. A partial listing includes:

• Increasing service lives for new and rehabilitated pavements,• Comparison of new vs. existing material performance

Future Benefits (continued)• Effects of specific design features• SHRP 2 support• Determining the impact of environment on performance• Baseline data sets for agencies to evaluate performance• Year-to-year checks against agency pavement management system/pavement condition index data

“LTPP is a major contributor toward assuring that we will have good pavements into the 21st Century.”

Charlie Churilla, “An Investment in the Future” Roads & Bridges, August 2001

Future Benefits (continued)• MEPDG local calibration and model refinement• Top-down vs. bottom-up cracking• Improved rutting prediction• Improved curing procedures to reduce built-in temperature gradients

• Next design procedure (and state-specific design procedures)

• Optimizing treatment selection• Constructing new sections to expand inference set• Calibration of new field data equipment• Refining concrete coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) test protocol

•Understanding/properly addressing curl and warp

Curl and Warp Study040215

Curl and Warp Study040213

Thank You !

For more information::http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/research/tfhrc/programs/infrastructure/pavements/ltpp/

More products and information at:http://www.infopave.com/