Assessment of Field Tests to Ensure Structural Design Criteria for Rigid Pavements (0-1783-1)

The focus of this report is to provide a state-of-the-art review of the research and developments in the area of field tests (both destructive and non-destructive) that can be used to ensure compliance between the properties of constructed pavements and the material properties assumed in design. This effort constituted a utility assessment of the potential of different testing methodologies for concrete pavement systems capable of being incorporated into future TxDOT testing regimens that are suitable for mechanistic design applications.|In light of this emphasis, key parameters that are used or could be used in design which have a relationship to performance were identified. In conjunction with this emphasis, test procedures which involved parameters that tie construction quality to design were of particular interest, especially if they displayed a certain amount of practicality and repeatability. Also, tests that represented a direct measurement rather than an indirect measurement of a parameter were preferred in addition to those that made measurements in-place and could make use of department equipment where possible. In this regard, the recommendations from this project were partially based on the current TxDOT QC/QA specification developments to ensure continuity since some of the key parameters were previously identified as part of the QC/QA effort. Although most of the key parameters pertained to the concrete surface layer (including bonded concrete overlays), parameters of each layer in a concrete pavement structure were considered in the report.