Pavements and Materials Research and Development (R&D) Topics Index
FHWA’s pavement and materials research and development provide technologies and solutions to advance the state–of–the art and practice in highway pavement engineering. To achieve these goals and objectives, the Office’s three pavement R&D teams conduct and manage research in the following areas
Design and Analysis |
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Design and Analysis R&D addresses pavement structural design, pavement response modeling, and prediction of both
structural and functional performance. |
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Materials |
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Materials R&D seeks to advance technology and tools for evaluation, testing, specification, mixture proportioning and
optimization for materials used in highway construction, preservation, maintenance and rehabilitation. Materials considered include traditional materials
– asphalt, Portland cement concrete and aggregate – as well as recycled and reused materials and new or innovative materials. |
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Construction |
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Construction R&D seeks to develop construction management, specifications, and other technologies to ensure that what
gets constructed meets the intent of design. It includes evaluating the effects of construction processes, procedures and specifications, and pavement
repair and rehabilitation on pavement performance. |
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Long–Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) |
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The Long Term Pavement Performance research is a comprehensive study of in-service, asphalt and Portland cement concrete
pavement test sections across the United States and Canada. |
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Pavement Management |
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Pavement management research and development provides tools and technologies to help agencies understand the condition and
performance of the pavement network and make sound decisions concerning investments to preserve and improve the system. |
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| Preservation |
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Preservation research and development provides tools, technologies and guidance to help maintain pavements in good condition. |
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| Surface Characteristics |
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Surface characteristics research and development provides tools, technologies and guidance to enable optimization of pavement surface
characteristics from a standpoint of safety (frictional characteristics), user satisfaction (ride quality), and noise generation. |
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| Materials Quality Assurance |
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Materials Quality Assurance research and development provides tools and guidance to help agencies ensure that the quality of the
as–constructed pavement will meet the design intent. |
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Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability |
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Environmental stewardship and sustainability research provides tools and technologies to enable appropriate consideration
of the short and long–term environmental implications of pavement engineering decisions, and support expanded use of recycled, reused and marginal
materials in highway pavement construction without detriment to long–term performance. |
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