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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/22767.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

The Second S T R A T E G I C H I G H W A Y R E S E A R C H P R O G R A M TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2013 www.TRB.org REPORT S2-R06E-RR-1 Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction RobeRt o. Rasmussen, Helga n. toRRes, and RicHaRd c. soHaney The Transtec Group, Inc. steven m. KaRamiHas University of Michigan gaRy FicK Trinity Construction Management Services, Inc.

Subscriber Categories Construction Highways Pavements

The Second Strategic Highway Research Program America’s highway system is critical to meeting the mobility and economic needs of local communities, regions, and the nation. Developments in research and technology—such as advanced materials, communications technology, new data collection tech- nologies, and human factors science—offer a new opportunity to improve the safety and reliability of this important national resource. Breakthrough resolution of significant transportation problems, however, requires concentrated resources over a short time frame. Reflecting this need, the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) has an intense, large-scale focus, integrates multiple fields of research and technology, and is fundamentally different from the broad, mission-oriented, discipline-based research programs that have been the mainstay of the highway research industry for half a century. The need for SHRP 2 was identified in TRB Special Report 260: Strategic Highway Research: Saving Lives, Reducing Congestion, Improving Quality of Life, published in 2001 and based on a study sponsored by Congress through the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). SHRP 2, modeled after the first Strategic Highway Research Program, is a focused, time- constrained, management-driven program designed to comple- ment existing highway research programs. SHRP 2 focuses on applied research in four areas: Safety, to prevent or reduce the severity of highway crashes by understanding driver behavior; Renewal, to address the aging infrastructure through rapid design and construction methods that cause minimal disrup- tions and produce lasting facilities; Reliability, to reduce con- gestion through incident reduction, management, response, and mitigation; and Capacity, to integrate mobility, economic, envi- ronmental, and community needs in the planning and designing of new transportation capacity. SHRP 2 was authorized in August 2005 as part of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The program is managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) on behalf of the National Research Council (NRC). SHRP 2 is conducted under a memorandum of understanding among the American Associa- tion of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the National Academy of Sciences, parent organization of TRB and NRC. The program provides for competitive, merit-based selection of research contractors; independent research project oversight; and dissemination of research results. SHRP 2 Report S2-R06E-RR-1 ISBN: 978-0-309-12941-1 Library of Congress Control Number: 2013934197 © 2013 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Copyright Information Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copy- right to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. The second Strategic Highway Research Program grants permission to repro- duce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Per- mission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, or FHWA endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing material in this document for educational and not-for-profit purposes will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from SHRP 2. Note: SHRP 2 report numbers convey the program, focus area, project number, and publication format. Report numbers ending in “w” are published as web documents only. Notice The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the second Strategic Highway Research Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and review this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report was reviewed by the technical committee and accepted for publication according to procedures established and overseen by the Transportation Research Board and approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in this report are those of the researchers who performed the research and are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, or the program sponsors. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, and the sponsors of the second Strategic Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of the report. SHRP 2 Reports Available by subscription and through the TRB online bookstore: www.TRB.org/bookstore Contact the TRB Business Office: 202-334-3213 More information about SHRP 2: www.TRB.org/SHRP2

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisci- plinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transporta- tion, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

SHRP 2 STAFF Ann M. Brach, Director Stephen J. Andrle, Deputy Director Neil J. Pedersen, Deputy Director, Implementation and Communications James Bryant, Senior Program Officer, Renewal Kenneth Campbell, Chief Program Officer, Safety JoAnn Coleman, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability Eduardo Cusicanqui, Financial Officer Walter Diewald, Senior Program Officer, Safety Jerry DiMaggio, Implementation Coordinator Shantia Douglas, Senior Financial Assistant Charles Fay, Senior Program Officer, Safety Carol Ford, Senior Program Assistant, Renewal and Safety Elizabeth Forney, Assistant Editor Jo Allen Gause, Senior Program Officer, Capacity Rosalind Gomes, Accounting/Financial Assistant Abdelmename Hedhli, Visiting Professional James Hedlund, Special Consultant, Safety Coordination Alyssa Hernandez, Reports Coordinator Ralph Hessian, Special Consultant, Capacity and Reliability Andy Horosko, Special Consultant, Safety Field Data Collection William Hyman, Senior Program Officer, Reliability Michael Marazzi, Senior Editorial Assistant Linda Mason, Communications Officer Reena Mathews, Senior Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Matthew Miller, Program Officer, Capacity and Reliability Michael Miller, Senior Program Assistant, Capacity and Reliability David Plazak, Senior Program Officer, Capacity Monica Starnes, Senior Program Officer, Renewal Onno Tool, Visiting Professional Dean Trackman, Managing Editor Connie Woldu, Administrative Coordinator Patrick Zelinski, Communications/Media Associate ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration in cooperation with the American Asso- ciation of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It was conducted in the second Strategic High- way Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. The project was managed by Dr. James Bryant, Senior Program Officer for SHRP 2 Renewal. The authors acknowledge numerous organizations for their support during the field evaluation and field demonstrations during this project. The research team thanks the state departments of transportation and other agencies for their cooperation: Georgia Department of Transportation, Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Texas Department of Transportation, Michigan Department of Transporta- tion, New York State Thruway Authority, and the New York State Department of Transportation. Equally as important to the success of this project were the contractors: The Scruggs Company, Inter- state Highway Construction, Northgate Constructors, and Cold Spring Construction Company. They allowed us to conduct the field evaluations and demonstrations of real-time smoothness measuring tech- nologies. Their cooperation surpassed the research team’s expectations, and their flexibility, genuine inter- est, and willingness to help are greatly appreciated. The cooperation from GOMACO Corporation and Ames Engineering was also critical to this project. Their diligence throughout this study is an expression of their commitment to advance these technologies and, ultimately, the construction of smoother concrete pavements. Several members of these organizations were involved. The team thanks the following individuals: Rod Pedersen, Danny Lewis, and James Turner, Georgia DOT; John Romaine and Arturo Ovando, The Scruggs Company; David Ross, Mark Evans, and Mark Greenwood, Arkansas HTD; Cal Thomas, Brian Huffman, and Tom Rutkoski, Interstate Highway Construction; Kim Soucek, Texas DOT; David Santin and Amy Bell, Northgate Constructors; Kelby Wallace and Andy Bennett, Michigan DOT; David Mellen, New York State Thruway Authority; Bill Cuerdon, New York State DOT; Jeff Borden and Bill Stewart, Cold Spring Construction Company; Kevin Klein, Mark Brenner, and Craig Rupert, GOMACO Corporation; and Jon Klatt, Ryan Emerson, and Mark Leichty, Ames Engineering, Inc. The research team also thanks Dr. Buzz Powell from the National Center for Asphalt Technology for his assistance in the profiling effort, along with others on our project team, including Sabrina Garber, R. P. Watson, Matt Pittman, and Jennifer Rutledge. Finally, the team thanks Dr. James Bryant for his guidance and trust.

F o r e w o r d James W. Bryant, Jr., SHRP 2 Senior Program Officer, Renewal This report documents the evaluation and demonstration of real-time smoothness measur- ing technologies on Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavements during construction. The initial investigation gathered information on the measurement concepts and the sensor con- figuration of seven real-time smoothness technologies. After a detailed assessment of the seven technologies, two technologies were chosen for inclusion in the field testing. The report and model specifications developed under this project are a result of testing real-time smoothness devices in the field on actual paving projects in Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and New York. The lessons learned from the field demonstrations were used to improve guidance on the use of real-time smoothness technologies. It is intended to improve process control and allow for equipment and operations adjustments to correct surface irregularities while the PCC is in a plastic state. The access to real-time information on surface irregularities will aid paving contractors in meeting the smoothness specification requirements of transporta- tion agencies. This is not intended to be a replacement for a transportation agency’s quality assurance (acceptance) testing. Smooth concrete pavements have been shown to be more durable, have lower vehicle operating costs, and lower maintenance and rehabilitation costs. In addition, transporta- tion agencies recognize the importance of smooth-riding pavements to the traveling pub- lic. Most states have implemented smoothness specifications for concrete pavements that require measurement of surface profile on the finished pavement for acceptance testing. In these cases there is no indication of smoothness prior to testing on the finished concrete pavement and problems are not corrected in real time, resulting in significant expenditures to correct surface irregularities. There are several real-time smoothness measurement tech- nologies that are at various stages of development. This study evaluated the technologies, selected technologies for field testing, and suggested improvements for the technology’s use. These technologies have been shown to improve process control and allow for equip- ment and operations adjustments to correct surface irregularities while the concrete is still in plastic. This has resulted in higher quality, lower cost, and faster construction that will minimize the impact on the traveling public.

C o n t e n t s 1 Executive Summary 3 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 3 Objectives 3 Scope 5 CHAPTER 2 Research Approach 5 Technology Review and Recommendations 8 Technology Field Evaluation 27 Technology Demonstrations 48 CHAPTER 3 Findings and Applications 48 Summary of Technology Performance 48 Summary of Technology Refinements 48 Development of Specifications and Guidelines 55 CHAPTER 4 Conclusions and Summary of Recommendations 55 Conclusions 55 Summary of Recommendations 58 References 59 Appendix A. Phase 2—Field Evaluation: Paving Process Overview 63 Appendix B. Phase 2—Field Evaluation: Hardened Pavement Profile Measurement Experiment 72 Appendix C. Phase 2—Field Evaluation: Additional Information Regarding Data Collection Methods and Procedures 79 Appendix D. Phase 3—Arkansas Field Demonstration Data Reduction and Analysis 88 Appendix E. Phase 3—Michigan Field Demonstration Data Reduction and Analysis 103 Appendix F. Phase 3—New York Field Demonstration Data Reduction and Analysis 108 Appendix G. Phase 3—Field Demonstrations: Additional Information 127 Appendix H. Recommended Practice for Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Concrete Pavements During Construction

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TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R06E-RR-1: Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction explores real-time smoothness measuring technologies for concrete paving.

For the purposes of the report, real-time smoothness refers to measuring and evaluating the concrete pavement surface profile during construction along the paving train while the concrete surface is still wet.

The report also includes draft suggested specifications and guidelines related to the use of technologies that allow paving crews to measure smoothness in real time.

An e-book version of this report is available for purchase at Amazon, Google, and iTunes.

The results of Renewal Project R06E were incorporated into an electronic repository for practitioners, known as the NDToolbox, which provides information regarding recommended technologies for the detection of a particular deterioration. The NDToolbox was created by SHRP 2 Renewal Project R06A, which has released SHRP 2 Report S2-R06A-RR-1: Nondestructive Testing to Identify Concrete Bridge Deck Deterioration that identifies nondestructive testing technologies for detecting and characterizing common forms of deterioration in concrete bridge decks.

Renewal Project R06E, which produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06E-RR-1, is one of seven follow-on projects to SHRP Renewal Project R06 that produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06-RW: A Plan for Developing High-Speed, Nondestructive Testing Procedures for Both Design Evaluation and Construction Inspection, which examines existing and emerging nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies and their current state of implementation to satisfy the NDE needs for highway renewal.

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