Optimizing Asphalt Pavement Performance for Climate Zones Within Washington State
PI: Haifang Wen (WSU), haifang_wen@wsu.edu
Dates: 07/01/2013 – 8/31/2015
Final Project Report: PacTrans-34-WSU-Wen
The pavements in the State of Washington witnessed great differences in performance, depending on the climatic zones. The climate west of the Cascade (referred to as West) is generally mild with wet winters. The climate in east of the Cascade (referred to as East) is drier with more extreme temperatures which often drop below freezing during winter. Studded tires are widely used in this area during winter time, creating additional damage (rutting and abrasion) to the hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements. The climate within Cascade Range (referred to as mountain passes) is mild in summer but much severe in winter with frequent snow and freezing conditions. The average lives of pavements within West (16.7 years) are significantly longer than those in East (10.9 years) or Mountain pass (as low as 5 years). In addition, there seems to have more catastrophic failures of pavements in Mountain Pass, such as SR 12 (Weston et al.).
