Description
In 1999, the Arizona Department of Transportation placed five different asphalt concrete pavement wearing courses as test sections on Interstate I-10, a highly trafficked Arizona highway. The wearing courses consisted of: Asphalt Rubber Open Graded Friction Course (AR-ACFC), Standard Open Graded Friction Course (ACFC), Polymer Modified Open Graded Friction Course (P-ACFC), Permeable European Mixture (PEM), and Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA). A continuous review of these sections over the years has shown that the pavement sections experienced different amount of cracking and wear after eight years of service. Most importantly, AR-ACFC pavement sections experienced the least cracking and wear after eight years of service, while the other test sections showed considerable cracking and wear. On-Board Sound Intensity (OBSI) noise measurements were conducted in 2002 and again in 2008 using sound Intensity equipment. The results indicated that the least noise was observed for the AR-ACFC mixtures. In addition, 30 core samples from these test sections were obtained to evaluate their dampening (impedance) properties in the laboratory using an Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) testing method. The results of these noise measurements and laboratory testing are discussed along with the degree of surface deterioration of each
pavement test section in the field.
