School of PE Blog

The Importance of Pavement Performance

Pavement performance is an important issue in the operation and planning of highway engineering. There are several factors that affect pavement performance, such as traffic, soil, environmental, economic and stress distribution factors. The primary function of pavement is to provide a smooth riding surface and suitable surface friction. Commuters and the residential public would like to see the pavement surface smoothness last for the maximum of its life. The magnitude of road safety has been discussed worldwide due to a day by day increase in incident rate due to road accidents. Similarly, the related environmental effects while developing and maintaining the long-term pavement performance is an important concern. Department standards and specifications thoroughly insist on adhering to quality assurance procedures. Productivity and quality control act as key control measures of the project. To become a licensed professional engineer through the PE exam (Civil), geometrics and transportation engineering topics are important for your success.

Selection of Pavement Construction Materials for Better Performance and Safety

Highway safety is an important feature of highway construction and engineering. The selection of highway construction materials is based on the type of roadway, identified and predictable traffic volume and the climatic conditions of the region. Nowadays transportation engineers have a more scientific approach; they use eco-friendly methods to construct roads, bridges and highway facilities. The highways are designed to stand up to the different stresses of heavy traffic, and they should support traffic during the different weather conditions. There are different policies of specifications and standards that are followed nationwide and are also discussed in the PE exam review course.

Methods that are Used to Control Pavement Cracking for Better Riding Surface

Pavement joints are dynamic to control pavement cracking and pavement movement. If the pavement joints are not used in highway construction, most of the rigid pavements would be damaged with cracks within one or two years after placement. Joint spacing is highly dependent on the environment, materials and subgrade. Jointed plain concrete pavement is the most popularly used pavement construction method. The jointed plain concrete pavement has a reliable design, and it can be used in all locations. Jointed plain concrete pavement has many joints to control the location of cracking. Transverse joint spacing is selected based on temperature and moisture stresses; therefore, they do not produce intermediate cracking between joints. Types of construction joints and properties of filling materials are important for the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam. Long-term development of pavement performance and automated faulting measurements are used to identify transverse joint locations on rigid pavement surfaces. The faulting measures at those locations are measured by using the profile data collected by high speed long-term pavement performance inertial profilers. Faulting measure software is used to process and analyze the profile data. Performance models relating to the pavement distress conditions, like cracking and roughness, are also analyzed through long-term pavement performance faulting measure software.