Browsing by Author "Bryce, James M."

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    Analysis of Repeated Network-Level Testing by the Falling Weight Deflectometer on I-81 in the Virginia Department of Transportation's Bristol District
    Bryce, James M.; Katicha, Samer W.; Diefenderfer, Brian K.; Flintsch, Gerardo W. (Virginia Transportation Research Council, 2016-11)
    This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the required time between subsequent rounds of network-level pavement deflection testing using a falling weight deflectometer (FWD) on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT’s) interstate system. Network-level deflection testing was conducted in two separate years (2006 and 2011) on Interstate 81 in VDOT’s Bristol District. The testing was conducted using the FWD at an interval of 0.2 miles in the right-hand lane (travel lane) of the interstate. The objective of this study was to analyze the results from the 2011 testing and compare them to the results obtained from the 2006 study to determine if the previously completed FWD survey of VDOT’s entire interstate network needed to be repeated. First, deflection values that were obtained from pavement segments that received treatments between the two sets of tests were identified and omitted from any comparison. Second, the two datasets were compared directly (i.e., without accounting for errors) and were modeled to account for the expected errors in the data defined as the root mean square of the difference between 2006 and 2011 measurements. The results of the 2011 testing showed lesser deflection and greater structural number values when compared to the data collected in 2006. A characterization of the errors implicit in each set of measurement showed that the errors outweigh the changes in deflection values from the two datasets. Therefore, it was not possible to quantify a recommended time between subsequent rounds of deflection testing on the pavement network. Since the literature shows significant benefits to conducting pavement deflection testing on the network, VDOT will continue this practice based on local needs and as budgetary constraints allow.
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    A Comprehensive Life Cycle Costs Analysis of In-Place Recycling and Conventional Pavement Construction and Maintenance Practices
    Santos, Joao; Bryce, James M.; Flintsch, Gerardo W.; Ferreira, Adelino (2015-06-04)
    Recent studies based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have highlighted the potential of in-place recycling techniques to enhance the sustainability of agency pavement management decisions for asphalt-surfaced pavements. However, a solution which is found to be environmentally advantageous by an LCA might not be preferred to another one which is technically equivalent if it is not economically competitive. In this context, it is necessary to evaluate the economic advantages taking into account the perspective of the main stakeholders who interact with a pavement system throughout its life cycle. This paper presents a comprehensive pavement life cycle costs (LCC) model that accounts for the different categories of costs incurred by highway agencies and road users over all the pavement life cycle phases. The results of the application of the pavement LCC model to a specific highway rehabilitation project in the state of Virginia showed that in-place recycling practices are beneficial for both highway agencies and road users.
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    Developing a Network-Level Structural Capacity Index for Structural Evaluation of Pavements
    Bryce, James M.; Flintsch, Gerardo W.; Katicha, Samer W.; Diefenderfer, Brian K. (Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research, 2013-03-01)
    The objective of this project was to develop a structural index for use in network-level pavement evaluation to facilitate the inclusion of the pavement's structural condition in pavement management applications. The primary goal of network-level pavement management is to provide the best service to the users for the available, often limited, resources. Pavement condition can be described in terms of functional and structural condition. The current widespread practice of network-level pavement evaluation is to consider only the functional pavement condition. This practice results in suggested treatments that are often under-designed or over-designed when considered in more detail at the project level. The disagreement can be reduced by considering the structural capacity of the pavements as part of a network-level decision process. This study developed a flexible pavement structural index to use for network-level pavement applications. Available pavement condition data were used to conduct a sensitivity analysis of the index, and example applications were tested. The results indicated that including the structural index developed, named the Modified Structural Index (MSI), into the network-level decision process minimized the discrepancy between network-level predictions and project-level decisions when compared to the current network-level decision-making process. A pilot implementation of the MSI showed that it can be used to support various pavement management decision processes, such as network-level structural screening, deterioration modeling, and development of structural performance measures. The pilot test also indicated that the impact of the structural condition of the pavement on the performance of a maintenance treatment and its impact on life-cycle costs can be quantified.