I. Advantages of Smooth Pavements: Longer Life Public Opinion Save Fuel Less Surface Maintenance II. Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Subgrade and Subbase Survey Equipment and Operators Mix Design Road Design Embedded Items Smooth Pavements/Surface Textures CIMT 210

…continued III. Smooth Criteria California Profilograph IV. Surface Texture Drag Textures Tine Textures Smooth Pavements/Surface Textures CIMT 210

Advantages of Smooth Pavement Longer Life A National Cooperative Highway Research Program analysis showed that improved smoothness extends pavement performance life up to 50% Public Opinion National Survey stated that the public that the road condition was a high priority Save Fuel Smoother roads also increase fuel efficiency and decrease vehicle wear Less Surface Maintenance Smoother pavements lead to long term performance and less maintenance

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Subgrade and Subbase It is critical that base and subbase be as true to grade as possible. Automated fine- grading equipment can achieve this Equipment and Operators – Operators need a sense of ownership for their work Pavers should be well maintained and should not stop often or not push too much concrete Survey For slipform paving, the contractor must pay close attention to the position and maintenance of the stringline Stringline should be checked periodically in order to result in smooth surface.

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Survey

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Survey

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Equipment and Operators

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Mix Design Achieving an accurate and consistent slump and mixture consistency QC during hauling, placing, and finishing is needed Road Design It may be more difficult to construct a smooth pavement on grades exceeding 3% versus flatter grades. For steep slopes the contractor should lower the slump of concrete Embedded Items Continuous reinforcing steel, mesh reinforcement, and dowel baskets all may disrupt the consolidation pressure during the passage of the slipform paver.

Ways to Ensure Smooth Pavements Embedded Items (con’t) Continuous reinforcing steel, mesh reinforcement, and dowel baskets all may disrupt the consolidation pressure during the passage of the slipform paver. Damming occurs when a basket assembly or transverse steel acts to dam up the concrete on the grade. Reinforcement ripple occurs when either longitudinal or transverse reinforcing steel prevents concrete from being distributed evenly under and over the steel

Smooth Criteria California Profilograph The profilograph is the most common equipment currently used to measure smoothness of new PCC pavement for construction acceptance The trace obtained from the profilograph is used to compute the Profile Index (PI) of the pavement

Smooth Criteria Inertial Profiler The more recently developed inertial profiler quickly monitors in-service pavements, and produces a profile from which the International Roughness Index (IRI) can be computed

Surface Texture Drag Texture

Surface Texture Tine Texture

Basic Components of Concrete Pavement