Field structural performance of stabilized blended calcium sulfate materials under accelerated pavement testing
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-15-2009
Abstract
Blended Calcium Sulfate (BCS), a recycled fluorogypsum mixture, has been used in Louisiana as a pavement base layer for more than a decade. Without further chemical stabilization, the major concern of using raw BCS as a pavement structural layer is its moisture susceptibility. It could cause both short-term construction difficulties and long-term performance problems. In order to verify the efficiency of BCS stabilization schemes that were obtained from laboratory results and further assess the field performance of stabilized BCS materials as well as potential cost benefits, three accelerated pavement test sections including two of different stabilized BCS bases and one of a crushed stone base were recently tested at the Louisiana Pavement Research Facility (PRF) in Port Allen, LA. The three sections shared a common pavement structure. The only difference was the base course materials. Each test section was instrumented with one multi-depth deflectometer and two pressure cells for measuring related pavement responses. Surface distress survey and the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests were performed at the end of every 25,000 load repetitions. The overall accelerated loading results indicated that a test section containing the granulated ground blast furnace slag (GGBFS) stabilized BCS base outperformed other two sections by a significantly large margin. FWD backcalculation results indicated that the GGBFS stabilized BCS base generally possessed an in-situ modulus value higher than that for an asphalt concrete layer and performed like a lean concrete. Cost benefit analysis results further indicated that when using the GGBFS stabilized BCS in lieu of a stone base in a flexible pavement design, the asphalt concrete thickness could be considerably reduced thus, the construction costs can be saved immediately. Copy; Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology
First Page
98
Last Page
105
Recommended Citation
Wu, Z., Chen, X., Mohammad, L., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Field structural performance of stabilized blended calcium sulfate materials under accelerated pavement testing. International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology, 2 (3), 98-105. Retrieved from https://repository.lsu.edu/civil_engineering_pubs/908