Winners of LTPP Data Analysis Contest Announced
From facilitating the design process for new and rehabilitated pavements
to teaching pavement analysis and design, the many resources of the
Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database were put to valuable
use by participants in the Third International Contest on LTPP Data
Analysis. Cosponsored by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and
the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the contest was designed
to encourage the use of the LTPP database for research, class projects,
and Master's and Doctoral theses.
The contest offered four categories:
- Undergraduate Studies (Individual or Team): Analysis was restricted
to using data available on the DataPave CD-ROMs.
- Graduate Students (Individual or Team).
- Partnership: For students working with public or private organizations.
- Curriculum: For professors who integrate the LTPP database into
their class curriculum.
Submissions were received in two categories, Graduate and Curriculum.
The papers were evaluated using the following criteria:
- Usefulness of product and potential benefit to end users.
- Originality of concept and demonstrated use of the LTPP database.
- Organization of paper and presentation (including clarity and style).
This year's winners received cash prizes.
The Graduate category had two First Place winners, Hassan M. Aly Salem
of the University of Idaho and Yuhong Wang of the University of Kentucky.
Using
DataPave 3.0 software, Salem quantified the effects of subgrade moisture
variations on the subgrade's resilient modulus. These effects can then
be used to facilitate the design process for new and rehabilitated pavements.
Wang's paper describes how to develop a climate map using cluster analysis
of performance-related climate data from the LTPP database. The paper
also uses LTPP data to study the quantitative relationship between climate
and pavement performance.
The Graduate category also produced two Second Place winners, Shameem
A. Dewan and Mohammed Zulyaminayn, both of Texas A&M University.
Dewan's paper explains how to transform LTPP distress data as input
for California's Metropolitan Transportation Commission Pavement Management
System software. Zulyaminayn's paper describes his use of LTPP data
to help develop a Visual Basic computer program for adjustment of the
family performance curves in predicting individual pavement section
performance. This computer program predicts distress conditions for
a 5-year span and the remaining service life of individual pavement
sections.
Third place in the Graduate category was awarded to Christopher M.
Raymond of the University of Waterloo in Canada. Using LTPP data, Raymond's
paper examines the effect of four factors on the as-built roughness
of a pavement. These factors are the extent of surface preparation prior
to resurfacing, overlay thickness, type of overlay material, and pavement
roughness prior to resurfacing. Raymond validated his study's results
using data from the Canadian LTPP program.
First Place in the Curriculum category was awarded to Neeraj Buch and
Karim Chatti of Michigan State University. Their paper demonstrates
the incorporation of the LTPP database in a curriculum for an undergraduate
course on pavement rehabilitation and a graduate course on pavement
analysis and design. The design examples illustrate the use of LTPP
data in computing pavement responses, predicting traffic levels, developing
rehabilitation strategies, and predicting pavement performance for both
rigid and flexible pavements.
For more information on the LTPP contest results, contact Verna Jameson
at ASCE, 703-295-6199 (fax: 703-295-6132; email: vjameson@asce.org),
or visit the FHWA Web site.
More information on using the LTPP database
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Articles in this issue:
Maturity Meters: A Concrete Success
A New Approach to Highway Design
A Hydraulics How To
Foamed RAP Makes the Grade in Louisiana
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