TxDOT Research Library - TxDOT Research Project

Show:

Rolling Density Meter to Ensure Long Term Performance of Flexible Pavements

What Was the Need?

Proper compaction of asphalt mixtures remains a key factor in achieving long term pavement performance. Traditional localized spot density tests provides little testing coverage resulting in high producer and consumer risks; such testing also can miss localized defect areas which eventually govern the pavement life.

What's the Solution?

This project will employ a rolling density meter to collect measurements at 6 inch spacing over newly constructed asphalt mixtures focusing on two applications: full lane testing coverage, and longitudinal joint density. With the advent of thin and ultra-thin mixtures, rolling density meter technology will provide much value since traditional coring can prove difficult with thin lifts. The research team will analyze the precision of the rolling density meter, perform an initial accuracy evaluation, shadow test the rolling density meter on construction projects and compare results to the traditional method using calibration core reference values. Additionally, the research team will evaluate a new license-free non-nuclear (does not require radioactive materials licensing) density gauge and perform limited evaluation of an emerging 32 channel rolling density meter.

Project Number

0-6889

Status

Completed

link icon Copy link to this project.