A NATIONAL STUDY OF RUTTING IN HOT MIX ASPHALT (HMA) PAVEMENTS (WITH DISCUSSION)

The objectives of this study are to identify the material properties, and mix design parameters that affect rutting and to provide information necessary to produce HMA mixtures that will perform satisfactorily and to provide information to identify those mixes with a tendency to rut under today's heavy traffic loadings. Forty-two pavements were sampled from fourteen states across the U.S. Rut depth measurements were made across each pavement to quantify the amount of rutting occurring at each site. The mix design information, construction records and traffic counts were also obtained. A detailed laboratory testing program was performed on samples of the asphalt mixture from these rutted and good performing pavements. The data were analyzed to determine material and mixture properties and to identify procedures that are necessary for construction of rut resistant HMA pavements.