THE FIRST FULL-SCALE ACCELERATED PAVEMENT TEST IN LOUISIANA: DEVELOPMENT AND FINDINGS
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1999Author
Metcalf, J.B.
Romanoschi, Stefan
Li, Y.
Rasoulian, M.
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The Pavement Research Facility in Port Allen, Louisiana houses the first full-scale accelerated
pavement testing experiment in the state. The purpose of the first experiment was to evaluate the
historically prevalent flexible crushed stone and in-place soil cement stabilized base construction
in comparison to several alternative base construction materials and construction processes for
pavements designed for a semi-tropical climate. Loading is provided by an Accelerated Loading
Facility (ALF) machine, the second of its type in the United States. More than six million
equivalent axle loads (ESALs) were applied to the nine test lanes. Performance of the pavement
structures and materials was evaluated using the information provided by the monitoring of
pavement surface deterioration, deflection testing during loading and post-mortem investigations.
This paper presents development of the project as well as the major findings of this first
experiment. The implementation of these findings in pavement design and construction practice
is discussed.