NTL Record

Title Incremental Costs and Performance Benefits of Various Features of Concrete Pavements
Record ID 25200
Personal Name
Creator
Hoerner, T. E.; Smith, K. D.; Bruinsma, J. E.
Corporate Creator Applied Pavement Technology, Inc.
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Research, Development, and Technology; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
Publisher United States. Federal Highway Administration
Publication Date 20040401
Language English
Abstract Various design features (such as dowel bars, tied shoulders, or drainable bases) may be added to a portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement design to improve its overall performance by maintaining a higher level of serviceability or by extending its service life. However, the addition of these features also increases the initial cost of the pavement design, in some cases quite significantly. This then raises the question as to whether the improved performance benefits gained by adding the design features are worth the increase in cost. Furthermore, the effects of adding more and more design features to a PCC pavement design may produce smaller and smaller performance gains, while significantly increasing the overall costs of the pavement structure. Unfortunately, current design practices do not always consider this tradeoff between performance benefits and costs when design features are added to a PCC pavement design. This report presents a methodology for quickly assessing the relative costs and benefits of incorporating various design features in PCC pavements. That methodology has been incorporated into an analytical software tool that can be used by pavement design engineers who are interested in investigating the cost versus performance tradeoffs associated with the selection of different design features during the PCC pavement design process. The tool is not intended to provide absolute answers on the effect of different design features, but rather to provide insight into general performance and cost trends associated with the use of those design features.
Rosap ID dot:35910
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/35910
TRT Terms Benefits; Concrete pavements; Costs; Methodology; Pavement design; Pavement performance; Software
General Subjects Design features; Finance; Highways; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces; Rigid pavement; Cost effectiveness
Geographical
Coverage
United States
OCLC 55771965
TRIS Online
Accession No
00975814
Contract Number DTFH61-02-P-00412
Report Number FHWA-HRT-04-044; HRDI-11/04-04(1M500)E
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/25000/25200/25200/04044.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository