March/April 2002 · Vol. 65 · No. 5

March/April 2002

Recent Publications
Compiled by Zac Ellis of FHWA's Office of Research and Technology Services

Below are brief descriptions of reports recently published by the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Office of Research, Development, and Technology. All of the publications are available from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In some cases, limited copies of the publication are available from the Research and Technology (R&T) Report Center.

When ordering from NTIS, include the NTIS PB number (or publication number) and the publication title. You may also visit the NTIS Web site at www.ntis.gov to order publications online. Call NTIS for current prices. For customers outside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the cost is usually double the listed price. Address requests to:

National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: (703) 605-6000
Toll-free number: (800) 553-NTIS (6847)
Expanded Sales Desk Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST, Mon.-Fri.

Requests for items available from the R&T Report Center should be addressed to:

R&T Report Center, HRTS-03
Federal Highway Administration
9701 Philadelphia Court, Unit Q
Lanham, MD 20706
Telephone: (301) 577-0906
Fax: (301) 577-1421

For more information on research and technology publications coming from FHWA, visit the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center's (TFHRC) Web site at www.tfhrc.gov, FHWA's Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov, the National Transportation Library's Web site at http://ntl.bts.gov, or the OneDOT information network at http://isweb.tasc.dot.gov/library/library.htm.

 

Accelerated Aging of Concrete: A Literature Review Publication No. FHWA-RD-01-073

This report provides a review of the literature on accelerated aging of concrete. It was undertaken as part of a research project on predicting the long-term environmental performance of portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements containing coal fly ash. An accelerated aging regime involving temperature, cyclic loading, and freeze-thaw cycles was employed in this project to simulate natural long-term aging processes.

This literature review describes the general concept of aging materials and defines accelerated aging. It describes accelerated aging procedures and applications of accelerated aging, and discusses thermal aging, the most common accelerated aging technique. Accelerated aging techniques and applications for several types of materials are described, followed by a review of accelerated aging procedures and applications for PCC.

Fundamental Properties of Asphalts and Modified Asphalts — Volume I: Interpretive Report Publication No. FHWA-RD-99-212
The Superpave binder specification developed during the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) from 1987 to 1993 classifies construction-grade asphalts into rheologically similar groups. All asphalts in a given grade have the same rheological properties to within 6ºC. The mission of this project was to improve the understanding of the expected performance of petroleum asphalts under service conditions. These conditions include physical behavior of thin asphalt films in contact with aggregate, rheology and oxidative aging of wet asphalt, behavior of asphalt after extended aging, and propensity of asphalt films to reconsolidate (“heal”) after microcracking.

These phenomena are not described by the current binder specification. The results of these exposures are included in this document and have been used to produce a comprehensive chemical model of petroleum asphalt. Finally, the results have been used to develop new analytical methods that improve the capability of predicting the performance of asphalt in roadway service. These 16 new tests are described in Volume II of this report.

Fundamental Properties of Asphalts and Modified Asphalts — Volume II: Final Report, New Methods Publication No. FHWA-RD-99-213
Sixteen new methods that distinguish behavioral characteristics of compositionally diverse petroleum asphalts were developed or refined into new methods during this project. These methods include: an automated Heithaus titration; high-performance liquid chromatography/size exclusion chromatography; large-scale plant mix simulation (after the German rolling flask method); modulated differential scanning calorimetry to predict low-temperature properties; fast ion exchange chromatography; asphalt aging using a microwave oven; non-aqueous potentiometric titration for acids in asphalt; supercritical fluid extraction of asphalt concrete cores; a shale oil modified asphalt demonstration site near Jackson, Wyoming; effects of moisture on rheology and aging of asphalt; ion exchange chromatography of asphalts using inexpensive resins; precipitation of waxes from asphalt neutrals; mastics penetration test; fast inverse gas liquid chromatography to predict long-term aging; multiple size exclusion chromatography to improve definition of associated materials; and a sliding plate microviscometer using aggregate plates to examine asphalt thin film behavior.

This volume is the second in a series. The other volume is Volume I: Interpretive Report (FHWA-RD-99-212). The NTIS publication number for Volume II is PB2001-108760.

An Introduction to the Deep Mixing Methods as Used in Geotechnical Applications — Volume III: The Verification and Properties of Treated Ground Publication No. FHWA-RD-99-167
The Deep Mixing Method (DMM) is an in situ soil treatment technology whereby the soil is blended with cementitious and/or other materials. This third report focuses closely on the properties of soils treated by DMM and aspects of quality control, quality assurance, and verification. This report expands on the illustrative details previously provided in Volumes I and II. The engineering properties of treated soils, as reported in the international technical press, are reviewed together with the construction parameters and materials used to treat them. Sources of information include data from routine production tests, special laboratory and field tests, and more qualitative statements made in overview by specialists in the DMM technology. Methods of process control and verification of performance are also discussed since these are key issues in the minds of current and potential users.

This volume is the third in a series. The other two volumes (FHWA-RD-99-138, Volume I, and FHWA-RD-99-144, Volume II) have been published earlier. The NTIS publication number for Volume III is PB202-100376.

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Other Articles in this issue:

"Stone-Walling" in Arkansas

Arkansas Combines Best Practices for an Innovative Insterstate Rehabilitation Program

Small Investment, Dramatic Dividends — Saving Lives in "Blood Alley"

National Review of the Highway Safety Improvement Program

Weather: A Research Agenda for Surface Transportation Program

Highway Quality Awards

FHWA Model Predicts Noise Impacts

Synergy in Action: FHWA's Transportation Pooled-Fund Program

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