The LTPP Forecast
Rolling out a new version of the DataPave software, introducing improved
testing procedures and guidelines, and studying the benefits of the
long-term pavement performance (LTPP) research are just a few of the
activities the LTPP program has planned for 2001.
DataPave 3.0 will contain even more data on traffic, materials, performance,
environment, and other variables at the more than 2,400 LTPP test sections
across the United States and Canada. The software is scheduled for release
mid year and will be available on both CD-ROM and the LTPP program's
Web site.
Other products in the pipeline for release this year include an improved
start-up procedure for resilient modulus testing, guidelines for temperature
adjustment of falling-weight deflectometer test results, and a software
program containing climatic data for use in pavement design, research,
forensics, and construction scheduling. "Putting products such as these
out there is the reason we're doing the LTPP program," says Charlie
Churilla of FHWA.
The program's data collection activities will focus on evaluating
in-place pavement drainage systems and using ground-penetrating radar
to assess section layer thickness. Work will also continue on the Specific
Pavement Study (SPS) traffic data collection study (see
November 2000 Focus). Nineteen States have committed to participating
in this pooled fund study, which is designed to increase and improve
the collection of monitored traffic data for five of the SPS projects.
With more than 10 years of data collection and product releases behind
it, the LTPP program has also launched a study of the benefits resulting
from its work. These benefits range from such tangible items as the
establishment of the LTPP database and advances in materials testing
and pavement evaluation to such intangibles as increased awareness of
the importance of effective traffic monitoring and greater sharing of
information by States. In many cases, the benefits translate into cost
savings. For example, it is estimated that $68 million a year could
be saved if the LTPP program's LTPPBind software, which provides improved
low- and high-temperature models for selecting performance-graded binders
for a specific location, was used in only a quarter of the hot-mix asphalt
projects in the United States. Details of these and other benefits will
be covered in the study's summary report, which is due out this summer.
For more information on the LTPP program's products and activities,
contact Charlie Churilla at FHWA, 202-493-3142 (fax: 202-493-3161; email:
charles.churilla@fhwa.dot.gov).
Other
articles in this issue:
Scour
evaluations a key element in improving bridge foundation design
In
Brief
Innovative
bridge research program: Building for the Future
Mobile
concrete lab brings technology straight to you
Technology
champions for a new century
Highway
technology calendar
The LTPP
Forecast
