Developing Deflection Acceptance Criteria for Compacted, Open-graded Aggregate Bases for Permeable Pavements Using Lightweight Deflectometers (LWDs)


Oklahoma State University

An extensive literature review and laboratory testing report completed using two popular LWD brands (Zorn and Olson). Full-scale field testing on open-graded aggregate bases typical to PICP were conducted in summer 2021 and tested with LWDs. Staff visited the test site during construction and testing. The testing also includes evaluation of a 3-D geocell product supplied by Presto Products under a separate contract with OSU. Geocells have been used in a few PICP projects to increase base and/or subbase aggregate stability and stiffness. A draft report has been submitted and returned for additional edits and recommendations. The next research phase is discrete element modeling to characterize field test conditions and LWD load distributions through open-graded aggregate. This notion that hasn’t received much exploration in the research literature but has implications on the structural contribution of these materials. A key deliverable is a compaction control specification written in ASTM format for eventual submission to this organization.   

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