• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

PURPOSES : Long-life asphalt pavements are used widely in developed countries. In order to be able to devise an effective maintenance strategy for such pavements, in this study, we evaluated the performance of the long-life asphalt pavements constructed along the national highways in South Korea. Further, an economic evaluation of the long-life asphalt pavements was performed based on a life-cycle cost analysis. We aimed to devise a model for evaluating the performance of long-life asphalt pavements using the national highway pavement management system (PMS) database as well as for analyzing the economic feasibility of such pavements, in order to promote their use in South Korea. METHODS : The maintenance history and pavement performance data were obtained from the national highway PMS database. The pavement performances for a total of 292 sections of 10 lanes (5 northbound lanes and 5 eastbound lanes) of national highways were used in this study. Models to predict the performances of hot mix asphalt (HMA) and long-life asphalt pavements under two distinct traffic conditions were developed using a simple regression method. Further, the economic feasibility of long-life asphalt pavements was evaluated using the Korea Pavement Management System (KoPMS). RESULTS : We developed service-life prediction models based on the traffic volume and the equivalent of single-axle load and found that long-life asphalt pavements have service lives 50% longer than those of HMA pavements. Further, the results of the economic analysis showed that long-life asphalt pavements are superior in terms of various economic indexes, including user cost, delay cost, total cost, and user benefits, even though their maintenance cost is higher than that of HMA pavements. A comparison of the economic feasibilities of the various groups showed that group A is superior to HMA pavements in all aspects except in terms of the maintenance criterion (crack 20% or higher) as per the NPV index. However, the long-life asphalt pavements in group B were superior in terms of the maintenance criterion (crack 25% or higher) regardless of the economic feasibility. CONCLUSIONS : The service life of long-life asphalt pavements was found to be approximately 50% longer than that of HMA pavements, regardless of the traffic volume characteristics. The economic feasibility of long-life asphalt pavements was evaluated based on the KoPMS. The results of the economic analysis were the following: long-life asphalt pavements are exceptional in terms of almost all factors, such as user cost, delay cost, total cost, and user benefit; however, the exception is the maintenance cost. Further, the economic feasibility of the long-life asphalt pavements in group B was found to be better than that of the HMA pavements (crack 25% or higher).

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.69-76
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• 2015

PURPOSES : Performance evaluation of four types of asphalt concrete overlays for deteriorated national highways. METHODS : Pavement distress surveys for crack rate and rut depth have been conducted annually using an automated pavement survey vehicle since 2007. Linear and non-linear performance prediction models of the asphalt concrete overlays were developed for 43 sections. The service life of the asphalt overlays was defined as the number of years after which a crack rate of 30% or rut depth of 15mm is observed. RESULTS : The service life of the asphalt overlays was estimated as 17.4 years on an average. In 90.7% of the sections, the service life of the overlays was 15 years or more which is 1.5 times the life of conventional asphalt concrete overlays used in national highways. The performance of the overlays was dependent on the type of asphalt mixture, traffic volume levels, and environmental conditions. CONCLUSIONS : The usage of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) and polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) for the overlays provided good resistance to cracking and rutting development. It is recommended that appropriate asphalt concrete overlays must be applied depending on the type of existing pavement distress.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.8 no.3 s.29
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• pp.49-61
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• 2006

This study suggests long-life asphalt pavement method which can save maintenance cost by increasing the design and performance period of pavements. The high modulus asphalt binder developed and then various physical tests are performed. Laboratory performance tests and accelerated pavement test are conducted for the high modulus and conventional mixtures. The test results show that dynamic modulus values of high modulus mixtures are higher than those of the conventional mixtures, The high modulus mixtures yield better fatigue, rutting and moisture damage performance than conventional mixtures. Structural analysis is performed and a database is built up for long life asphalt pavement design. Pavement response model is developed through a multiple regression analysis program, SPSS using the database. A design software for the long life pavements is developed based on the pavement response model and laboratory and field performance tests results. In addition, optimum pavement sections and materials are suggested. The suggested AC thickness of long life asphalt pavement is 29cm. A Life cycle cost analysis(LCCA) is conducted to check the economical efficiency of the long life pavement section. The LCCA result shows that initial construction costs of long life and conventional pavements are almost equal, but long life pavement is more profitable in terms of the LCCA.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.31-43
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• 2017

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to verify the effect of fiber grid reinforcement on the long-term performance of asphalt pavement overlaid on old concrete pavement by performing field investigation, laboratory test, and finite element analysis. METHODS : The reflection cracking, roughness, and rutting of fiber grid reinforced overlay sections and ordinary overlay sections were compared. Cores were obtained from both the fiber grid reinforced and ordinary sections to measure bonding shear strength between the asphalt intermediate and asphalt overlay layers. Fracture energy, displacement after yield, shear stiffnesses of the cores were also obtained by analyzing the test results. Finite element analysis was performed using the test results to validate the effect of the fiber grid reinforcement on long-term performance of asphalt pavement overlaid on the old concrete pavement. The fatigue cracking and reflection-cracking were predicted for three cases: 1) fiber grid was not used; 2) glass fiber grid was used; 3) carbon fiber grid was used. RESULTS : The reflection-cracking ratio of fiber grid reinforced sections was much smaller than that of ordinary sections. The fiber grid reinforcement also showed reduction effect on rutting while that on roughness was not clear. The reflection-cracking was not affected by traffic volume but by slab deformation and joint movement caused by temperature variation. The bonding shear strength of the fiber grid reinforced sections was larger than that of the ordinary sections. The fracture energy, displacement after yield, and shear stiffnesses of the cores of the fiber grid reinforced sections were also larger than those of the ordinary sections. Finite element analysis results showed that fatigue cracking of glass or carbon fiber grid reinforced pavement was much smaller than that of ordinary pavement. Carbon fiber grid reinforcement showed larger effect in elongating the fatigue life of the ordinary overlay pavement compared to glass fiber grid reinforcement. The binder type of the overlay layer also affected the fatigue life. The fiber grid reinforcement resisted reflection-cracking and the carbon fiber grid showed the greater effect. CONCLUSIONS :The results of field investigation, laboratory test, and finite element analysis showed that the fiber grid reinforcement had a better effect on improving long-term performance of asphalt pavement overlaid on the old concrete pavement.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.33-45
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• 2016

PURPOSES : Concrete pavement has been used in the construction of the Jungbu expressway in 1987. More than 60% of the pavement on the expressway is currently made of concrete, but most has been used far beyond their design life. Pavement life has been extended through routine maintenance or overlay. However, the structural capacity of the pavement has reached its limit, and extensive rehabilitation/reconstruction with long time traffic blocking should be considered. The three following issues on concrete rehabilitation/reconstruction will be discussed: (1) economic comparison of asphalt inlay and asphalt overlay, (2) economic comparison preventive overlay on a section which is currently good and routine overlay on the section which will be poor, and (3) economic analysis of early-strength concrete when it is used in concrete reconstruction. METHODS : First, various life cycle cost analysis tools were compared, and the proper tool for the extensive rehabilitation/reconstruction was selected. Second, a sensitivity analysis of the selected tool was performed to find the influential input variables, which should be carefully selected in the analysis. Third, three case studies, which can be issues in the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the expressway concrete pavement in Korea, were performed. RESULTS : Asphalt overlay without milling the deteriorated concrete showed 18~25% lower life cycle cost than the current asphalt inlay with milling. The good current preventive overlay on the section was economically justified within the scope of this study. The construction cost limit of the early strength concrete was suggested to be economical for 1, 3, and 7 days of construction alternative opening. CONCLUSIONS : CA4PRS was a viable tool for comparing various rehabilitation/reconstruction issue alternatives. Several concrete issues associated with the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the deteriorated concrete pavement were discussed as mentioned above.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.7 no.3 s.25
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• pp.1-10
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• 2005

In this study, accelerated pavement tester(APT) was performed on long-life asphalt pavements that can save maintenance and user costs by increasing the design life twice longer than conventional asphalt pavements. Basic material testings are first conducted on a high modulus base(HMB) mixture developed in this study. Four different pavement sections including thin and thick conventional and thin and thick HMB courses are constructed to compare the load-carrying capacities and to investigate the fatigue and rutting performances using an accelerated pavement tester. Tensile strain values at the bottom of base courses under the various loading levels are measured. The tensile strain values of the HMB sections are lower than those of the conventional sections. It is observed from the APT performed on the thin pavement sections that no significant cracks are developed up to the 180,000 cycles of a wheel load. In terms of rutting, only 3mm of rutting is developed in the thick HMB section while 5.3mm of rutting is developed in the thick conventional section at the 90,000 cycles of the wheel load. The HMB material developed in this study can be successfully used in the long-life asphalt pavements because of its excellent fatigue and rutting performances. It is estimated from a series of structural analysis that the use of the HMB material instead of the conventional base materials may reduce the asphalt thickness at least 5cm because of its better load-carrying capacity.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.153-160
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• 2009

Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) tests were performed to evaluate the structural capacity of glass fiber reinforced (GFR), polymer modified (PM), and unmodified asphalt pavement in Korea-LTPP (Long Term Pavement Performance) section. FWD tests showed that the tensile strains of GFR and PM asphalt pavements at the bottom of asphalt layer were 29% and 21% less than that of unmodified asphalt pavement. The structural capacity was then used as a performance criterion for calculating the cost effect of GFR and PM asphalt pavements. From the results, 5cm of asphalt layer thickness was reduced by applying GFR asphalt, and 3cm by applying PM asphalt. However, construction cost of PM and GFR asphalt pavement were increased due to the higher GFR and PM asphalt price. Life cycle cost analysis showed that the initial construction cost of GFR and PM asphalt pavement were higher but the management and user cost were less than those of unmodified asphalt pavement.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.207-221
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• 2011

More than sixty percentage of highway in South Korea were constructed by concrete pavements and more than half of the concrete pavements were twenty years or older. The most of highway have difficulty in providing detour due to the traffic and road condition of South Korea. So far, asphalt concrete has been used for the overlay of aged cement concrete pavement. However, the frequent early damage and maintenance of typical asphalt overlay due to repetitive maintenance causes inconvenience of road users and expensive costs. It is necessary to investigate the factors affecting the performance of asphalt concrete overlay to improve the performance of asphalt overlay. However, the performance data of asphalt concrete overlay in South Korea does not exist. In this research, to investigate on the factors affecting the life of asphalt concrete overlay was attempted based on statistical analysis of the performance data of asphalt concrete overlay included in LTPP (Long-Term Pavement Performance) Database of U.S.A.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.7 no.2 s.24
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• pp.23-31
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• 2005

This study is a part of research for developing the technologies of long life pavements having more than 40-year design life. The objective of this study is to develop the simplified design procedure for determining the layer thickness and modulus of the long life pavement. A synthetic database was established using the finite element program of a pavement structure with various combinations of layer thickness and modulus. The synthetic database includes the structural and material information, surface deflection, and critical pavement responses. Using the developed synthetic database, this paper suggests the minimum layer thickness and modulus for long life pavements bared on the limited strain level concept. Results demonstrate that the pavement greater than 410mm of total AC layer thickness is considered as the long life pavements regardless of the material characteristics and thickness in each layer. To become a long life pavement, a total thickness of AC layer should be greater than 250mm. The design procedure for determining the layer thickness and modulus of the pavements with AC layer thickness ranging from 250 to 410mm is also presented in this paper.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.113-126
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• 2017

PURPOSES : This study proposes standards for rural access road pavement section and thickness design considering existing access road construction conditions; the study also proposes a complementary policy that can be used for design convenience. METHODS : Various literature review and case studies had been performed in terms of rural access road section and thickness design, both domestically and internationally, and this was followed by domestic rural access road field surveys. KPRP and KENLAYER were used to analyze the commonalities and predict the remaining life. Data on real cost is used to select an appropriate construction method through economic analysis. RESULTS : The economic efficiency of concrete pavement ($15{\times}15$) was the highest in terms of economic efficiency of performance life and traffic volume. In the case of asphalt pavement, it is considered that the most economical method is to implement micro-surfacing method four times as a preventive maintenance method (once every 10 years and 4.5 years for asphalt concrete pavement and MS construction method, respectively). Repairable asphalt pavement is advantageous for areas where heavy vehicles are expected to pass. In the case of other general areas, it is considered economical to place concrete ($15{\times}15$) pavement. However, as analytical results on its performance life are unavailable, it is to be considered for study in the future. CONCLUSIONS : This study proposed interim design guidelines based on various domestic and international design guidelines and case studies. However, in order to develop the final design criteria applicable to the field, it is necessary to (a) estimate the bearing capacity of the lower level of the pavement at various sites, (b) estimate the daily traffic volume, (c) implement advanced low-cost pavement technologies, and (d) propose maintenance standards and techniques for long-term performance.