PAVEMENT DISTRESS AT INTERSECTIONS

Asphaltic concrete pavements at intersections and their approaches, where traffic is required to stop and start, exhibit several types of distress. Among the more prominent forms of these distresses are deep rutting, pushing and shoving, and severe washboarding. Prior research in this area has shown the leading causes of pavement failures at these locations are primarily materials related. Meaningful amounts of funds allocated for maintenance operations are exhausted each year to rehabilitate intersection pavements that have become safety hazards as a result of simple traffic action. Significant savings may be realized if intersections and their approaches are designed and constructed to accommodate the shear stresses as well as fatigue to which they are subjected. The overall purpose of this study has been to understand the factors that influence these distresses and determine procedures that may be implemented economically to significantly reduce the costly and repeated rehabilitation of intersection pavements. This report examines several innovative techniques used to accommodate higher stresses realized at these locations including whitetopping with Portland cement concrete, high-density plastic geogrids, and polymer-modified asphalts.