National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

About the research

The quality and types of materials utilized in pavement construction, construction techniques, equipment, truck volume, configuration, weight, and the public demand for use of the roadway during construction have placed new and sometimes difficult demands on the pavements. Improving the quality of the pavement has become the goal of both the asphaltic concrete and portland cement concrete industries.

What criterion best measures performance of portland cement concrete pavements in the Midwest and how are they related to the design, construction, and maintenance of pavements by highway agencies and the construction industry? A comprehensive way of using any combination of variables needs to be developed to acquire a basis for estimating performance based on construction quality with an appropriate incentive-disincentive pay schedule.

The long range goal of this research project is to develop performance based specifications for the construction of portland cement concrete pavements. The objectives include (1) identification of desired quality levels, (2) identification of performance criteria, (3) development of models relating each performance criteria to a portion of the design, materials selection or construction process, (4) field validation and sensitivity analysis of performance specification, (5) cost assessment for various levels of quality associated specifications, (6) development of draft specification that utilizes an integrated assessment of the performance criteria and its costs, (7) pilot testing of an integrated assessment performance specification and calibration, and (8) recommendation of final specifications.

This research project included a review of existing literature and current research in progress in the area of performance-based specifications. This effort also involved monitoring of the ERES pilot monitoring plan and draft specification development.