Using Large Linked Field Data Sets to Investigate Density’s Impact on the Performance of Washington State Department of Transportation Asphalt Pavements

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110061
Author(s):  
Ryan Howell ◽  
Stephen Muench ◽  
Milad Zokaei Ashtiani ◽  
James Feracor ◽  
Mark Russell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aggregate Size ◽  
Large Data ◽  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Maximum Aggregate Size ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Clear Trend ◽  
Washington State Department

Large data sets of Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) pavement construction and condition data are linked together and used to investigate an implemented change in in-place density to lower specification limit (LSL) from 91% to 92%. This serves as a test case for using such large in-service data sets to create analysis value for a state DOT. Findings include: (1) WSDOT field density has remained relatively steady at 93% for over 20 years; (2) raising the density LSL to 92% will likely result in more contractor effort to achieve higher densities; (3) no clear trend links density with better pavement condition; (4) raising the density LSL will likely result in fewer problematically low densities; and (5) there is no evidence of differing pavement performance based on asphalt content, gradation, or nominal maximum aggregate size.

Examination of Washington State Department of Transportation Transfer Functions for Mechanistic-Empirical Asphalt Concrete Overlay Design

1996 ◽  
Vol 1539 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Joe P. M ahoney ◽  
Linda M. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Fatigue Cracking ◽  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Overlay Design ◽  
Pavement Testing ◽  
Washington State Department

A review of transfer functions for mechanistic-empirical design procedures is addressed. Specific emphasis is placed on those transfer functions currently used by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and shift factors that relate estimates of laboratory to field fatigue cracking. To achieve this goal, brief discussions about how the WSDOT transfer functions were developed or chosen are presented. A comparison of WSDOT with South African transfer functions is presented. This comparison is of special interest because the South African transfer functions have been updated recently and are in part based on extensive accelerated pavement testing. Finally, mechanistic-empirical overlay designs have been performed by WSDOT for more than 10 years, and a selection of prior overlay projects is reviewed to examine fatigue cracking shift factors. Only projects exhibiting fatigue cracking or its early manifestation are used. The annual visual distress surveys contained in the WSDOT Pavement Management System make this review a bit easier because all pavement sections on the WSDOT route system have been systematically monitored for the preceding 26 years. The conclusion is that the laboratory-based tensile strain relationship currently used by WSDOT must be shifted to predict field fatigue cracking. Such shift factors appear to fall most commonly into a range between 4 and 10.

Calibration of NCHRP 1–37A Software for the Washington State Department of Transportation

2006 ◽  
Vol 1949 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianhua Li ◽  
Stephen T. Muench ◽  
Joe P. Mahoney ◽  
Nadarajah Sivaneswaran ◽  
Linda M. Pierce
Keyword(s):  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Washington State Department

Benefit-Cost Evaluation of Traveler Information: Seattle’s Washington State Department of Transportation Website

2000 ◽  
Vol 1739 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglass B. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Information Service ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
State Department ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Cost Evaluation ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Traveler Information ◽  
Spreadsheet Model ◽  
Washington State Department

The Washington State Department of Transportation website allows those with access to a computer and the Internet to obtain current information about traffic conditions on freeways and bridges in the metropolitan Seattle area. Potential benefits of disseminating real-time traveler information are time and cost savings to users as a result of informed travel choices (route, time, mode, destination, add or forgo a trip), increased user confidence in travel choices, and reduction in congestion, pollution, and other external costs. These benefits depend on how many users access the information, what choices they make, how much time they save or in what other ways they find the information valuable, and how their choices affect the transportation system. Although a good deal of this information is available for Seattle or can be estimated from comparable contexts, the data are inadequate to determine within a broad range whether net benefits are positive or negative. A spreadsheet model is presented that allows relevant data to be applied—and “what if” numbers to be inserted where necessary—as a basis for identifying the performance characteristics and levels needed to make a traveler information service a worthwhile investment.

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