The Rutting Resistant Surface Course Combination for Continuous Uphill Section of Expressway

Rut is always serious when asphalt pavements sustain heavy loading and slow moving vehicles. This indicates that traditional asphalt pavements structural combination design methods can not offer sufficient rutting resistance performance for the special section. In this study, full-thickness rutting tests under heavy load and slow speed were developed for many surface course combinations. The contribution rate of each surface layers to the whole surface course's rutting resistance performance was studied. Test results show that the rutting resistance performance of top surface layer, middle surface layer and bottom surface layer should be improved simultaneously to prevent rut in the continuous uphill expressway; the use of modified bituminous or anti-rut agents is an effective way to improve the rutting resistance performance of asphalt mixture. Finally, a suitable asphalt surface course was recommended for a 13km continuous uphill asphalt pavement maintenance project.