GEORGIAS EVALUATION OF SURFACE TEXTURE, INTERFACE CHARACTERISTICS, AND SMOOTHNESS PROFILE OF MICROMILLED SURFACE

James Lai, Ph.D., P.E. Professor Emeritus School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0355 Phone: (770) 416-9805 Email: lai_james@msn.com Mark Bruce Technical Services Engineer Email: mbruce@dot.ga.gov David M. Jared, P.E. Special Research Engineer Email: djared@dot.ga.gov (Corresponding Author) Peter Y. Wu, Ph.D., P.E. Assistant State Materials & Research Engineer Email: pwu@dot.ga.gov Sheila Hines State Bituminous Construction Engineer Email: shines@dot.ga.gov Georgia Department of Transportation Office of Materials and Research 15 Kennedy Drive Forest Park, GA 30297-2534 Phone: (404) 363-7500

Word count: 5430 (text) + 1000 (tables) + 1000 (figures) = 7430 words.

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ABSTRACT Friction courses in Georgia such as the open-graded friction course (OGFC) or Porous European Mix (PEM), have rarely been placed directly on top of a conventionally milled surface. Such placement could cause delamination of the surface layer, due to poor bonding between the friction course and the milled surface and to the likelihood of surface water being trapped in the valleys of the rough milled surface. Thus, a new layer of dense-graded surface mix would have to be placed on the milled surface before a new friction course could be placed on top of it. Use of the micromilling technique could address this problem. This paper presents the scope and findings of research that evaluated a micromilling operation in conjunction with 15.6 miles of PEM overlay on Interstate 75 south of Macon. The Georgia DOT (GDOT) Special Provision for the micromilling and PEM overlay stipulated that the micromilling operation must produce a milled surface with a ridge-to-valley depth (RVD) in the surface texture of 1.6 mm and would require corrective action when RVD exceeded 3.2 mm. The Circular Track Meter and the Ultra Light Inertia Profiler were used for measuring the macrotexture of the milled surface. Results obtained from the eight test sections indicated that the requirements were achievable and cost effective with the micromilling technology currently available. Bond strengths were also evaluated, and the results are presented herein. The estimated cost savings for the project evaluated was $58,000 per lane mile. INTRODUCTION GDOT has commonly used placement of 1.5 in. of Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) topped with in. of OGFC for rehabilitation of asphalt pavements on interstate highways since the 1990s. This rehabilitation method has ensured good pavement performance for up to 10 years. Use of OGFC has been replaced by use of 1.25 in. PEM recently. After 10 years, the OGFC may begin to deteriorate, even though the SMA layer is likely still in good condition and could last several more years. Milling the deteriorated OGFC layer and replacing it with new PEM would seem to be a good practice; however, placing a PEM layer directly on top of a conventionally milled surface has rarely been done in Georgia. This is primarily due to the concern that this rehabilitation practice could potentially cause delamination of the surface layer due to poor bonding between the PEM and the conventional milled surface and to the likelihood of surface water entering through the porous layer and being trapped in the valleys of the conventionally milled surface. With conventional milling, the difference between the ridges and valleys of the milled surface could exceed 8 mm. Thus, a layer of new SMA would have to be placed on the milled surface before new PEM is placed on top of it, a very expensive procedure. Rising prices of fuel and asphalt cement have diminished pavement construction and maintenance budgets. Hence, more cost effective maintenance procedures have become necessary. Recently an increasing number of state transportation departments have explored the benefits of cost-effective pavement preservation treatments that can extend pavement service life. One such treatment for aging flexible pavements is a thin hot-mix asphalt overlay. To precisely prepare an OGFC surface, a fine-tooth milling solution, comparable to diamond-grinding for concrete pavements, has been investigated in Georgia: the micromilling technique for thin asphalt overlays. Micromilling could produce a much finer surface texture with RVD of less than 3 mm and could more accurately mill only the existing deteriorated OGFC layer. New friction course can be placed on top of it without a new surface mix layer being necessary. The estimated cost savings for the construction project described in the paper was $58,000 per lane mile compared

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with conventional milling and overlay. The total cost savings for the project discussed in this paper, 15.6 miles of micromilling and PEM overlay on I-75 south of Atlanta (three lanes per direction), was approximately $5.4 million. It is imperative, however, that a thorough investigation of an existing pavement be performed beforehand to evaluate the suitability of using this method for the pavement. One concern about using micromilling for the I-75 project was the possible intrusion of water through the existing dense-graded mix to be left in place. Another concern was the load bearing capacity of that mix and the degree of moisture weakening to it after more than 10 years of service life. To evaluate the existing condition of the pavement, cores were taken to assess the permeability and moisture resistance of the pavement. It was found that the moisture damage was not noticeable and that the average rutting depth was less than 5 mm under 8,000 cycles of underwater testing with an Asphalt Pavement Analyzer at 64C. The average permeability of the cores was less than 3 ft./day, meeting current mix design specifications. The lab test results addressed the concerns about the quality of the underlying asphalt layer, and the decision was made to proceed with use of micromilling and placement of 1.25 in. of PEM directly on top of the milled surface. Use of micromilling in conjunction with an asphalt pavement overlay is a relatively new technique. Virginia DOT (1) used micromilling for reducing the deterioration of edge drop-offs and scabbing on milled surfaces and for providing a more comfortable riding surface when the micromilled surface is left open to traffic before being overlaid with dense-graded HMA. Some states such as Maryland and Colorado have also used micromilling and overlay with densegraded HMA. Placing a thin PEM directly on top of the micromilled surface, however, has not been done. This type of placement necessitates more stringent requirements for the micromilled surface texture than a thick dense-graded HMA overlay, to prevent potential delamination of the PEM overlay. To promote use of micromilling, three questions need to be properly addressed. (1) Can specifications be established for the micromilled surface texture to meet short- and long-term performance requirements? GDOT developed a Special Provision for micromilling that was used for the I-75 project. The appropriateness of the requirements in the Special Provision needed evaluation. (2) Can these requirements be determined via routine quality assurance? (3) Are the requirements achievable and cost effective for construction? This paper presents the scope and the findings of research for evaluating the micromilling done in conjunction with 15.6 miles of PEM overlay on I-75 south of Macon, as mentioned above. It also describes how the three issues above were addressed on the project. The research findings presented include the (1) techniques used for evaluating the micromilled surface texture in terms of RVD as specified in the Special Provision as well as the mean texture depth (MTD), a more commonly used parameter for measuring pavement surface textures; and (2) analysis of micromilling surface texture data obtained from the project. Also presented in the paper is the evaluation of the bond strength between the PEM overlay and the micromilled surface, an important parameter related to long-term prevention of delamination. MICROMILLING AND CONVENTIONAL MILLING The differences between conventional milling and micromilling of asphalt pavements lie primarily in the milling drums used and in the control of milling operations, although both operations could use the same milling machine. Figure 1 shows the differences between micromilling and conventional milling drums. There are more teeth at a closer spacing for a

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micromilling drum compared than with a conventional milling drum. A 12.5 ft. wide micromilling drum has approximately 500 teeth, compared with about 180 teeth for a conventional milling drum of the same width. With the differences in the milling drum construction, together with better control of milling operations, micromilling is designed to produce a more uniform and smoother milled surface and finer milled surface texture than that of a conventional milled surface.

FIGURE 1 Micromilling drum (top) and conventional milling drum (bottom). MICROMILLING AND PEM OVERLAY PROJECT The micromilling and PEM overlay project investigated was located on Interstate I-75 near Perry, Georgia, about 120 miles south of Atlanta. The project was 15.6 miles long with three lanes in both directions. The following requirements for the micromilled surface texture and the PEM overlay were included in GDOT Special Provision Section 432-Mill Asphalt Concrete Pavement (MicroMill): (1) Micromilling Equipment should be capable of removing pavement to an accuracy of 1/16 in. (1.6 mm). (2) Any areas exceeding 1/8 in. (3.2 mm) between the ridge and valley of the milled surface or failing to meet surface smoothness requirements shall require that the underlying layer be removed and replaced. (3) The indices for the smoothness of the milled surface measured must meet a target value of 825 mm/km and not exceed the correction index of 900 mm/km. The RVD texture depth was used as the acceptance criteria in the Special Provision instead of using the MTD or mean profile depth (MPD), more commonly used parameters for measuring pavement surface texture depths (2-5). This would require having an instrument which is capable of measuring texture depth between the ridges and valleys of micromilled

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surfaces to the required accuracy in the field. The methods used for measuring the ridge-tovalley texture depths are presented in the next section. The Virginia DOT Special Provision for the micromilling (1) stipulated that the macrotexture of the micromilled surface shall have an MTD of less than 2.0 mm and that a maximum tolerance of 0.25 in. per foot of the milled surface measured by a 10 ft. straightedge. The 2.0 mm MTD for the milled texture depth requirement is less restrictive than the 1.6 mm ridge-to-valley texture depth requirement (nearly 1.0 mm MTD). Discussion of the relationship between the MTD and the RVD is presented later in this paper. REVIEW OF PAVEMENT SURFACE TEXTURE MEASUREMENTS The ASTM E 965 sand patch method (2) has historically been used for characterizing pavement surface texture, in terms of MTD. Various laser-based pavement surface macrotexture measuring devices, such as ASTM E 2157 Circular Track Meter (CTM) (3), ROSAN (6), ARAN Profiler System (7) and Ultra Light Inertia Profiler (ULIP) (8) and others have been developed to replace the sand patch method The data obtained from these devices are converted into mean profile depth (MPD) in order to mimic the MTD determined by the sand patch method. Among the laser-based devices, the CTM has gained wide acceptance. The CTM utilizes a displacement sensor mounted on a 142 mm (5.6 in.) radius arm that rotates for a full 360o revolution at a fixed elevation from the surface being measured. The profile of the surface texture along the path the arm traversed is recorded in the computer. The profile data is divided into eight segments for analysis. Excellent correlations have been established for the MTD obtained from the sand patch method and the MPD obtained from the CTM on various pavement surfaces (5). Excellent correlations have also been established between the MPD obtained using the ULIP and CTM and the MTD from the sand patch method on various pavement surfaces (8). The correlations between the CTM and MPD reported in these two studies were nearly 1:1. In addition to generating MPD, the ROSAN, ARAN, and ULIP all have the capability for generating ridge-to-valley texture depth from pavement texture measurements in accordance with ASTM E 1845 (4). Since the acceptance criteria for GDOTs Special Provision for the micromilled surface were based on the RVD of the surface texture and not the MTD or MPD, MTD and MPD could not be used directly to determine the acceptance of the micromilled surface quality. Therefore, there was a need to obtain RVD values directly from the micromilled surfaces or alternatively through establishing correlations between the MPD and RVD values. The need for obtaining RVD directly arises since relationships between RVD and the MTD or MPD of a pavement surface vary depending on the macrotexture characteristics of different surfaces. For a surface with a symmetrical macrotexture profile, its RVD equals twice the MPD. For a negative unsymmetrical profile, the RVD is greater than two times the corresponding MPD, while for a positive unsymmetrical profile, the RVD is less than two times the corresponding MPD. The root mean square (RMS) values for different texture profiles, which are routinely generated from the CTM (3), do not provide useful information for discerning whether a texture profile is symmetrical or negative- or positive unsymmetrical. The disparity of the characteristics between RVD and MPD was pointed out by Lai (9) and by McGhee et al. (10).

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Use of CTM and ULIP for Measuring Micromilled Surface Texture Depth One of the advantages of using the CTM for measuring pavement surface macrotexture is that both the individual MPD in eight segments (labeled A to H, per Figure 2 below) and the average MPD of all eight segments can be produced. The MPD readings from Segments A and E represent the macrotexture of the milled surface along the milling direction; the readings from Segments C and G represent the texture perpendicular to the milling direction; and the readings from the other four segments represent the texture diagonal to the milling direction. The macrotextures of the milled surface are significantly different along these different directions. Such characteristics could have significant implications for the long-term performance of a PEM overlay. Disadvantages of using the CTM are that (1) it can only measure pavement surface textures on small circular tracks (about 80 cm lengths) over a small number of locations, and (2) the outputs of the measurements are in terms of MPD but not RVD.

FIGURE 2 Segments of Circular Track Meter. With the ROSAN, ARAN, and ULIP, on the other hand, a continuous large segment of pavement surface can be measured and the RVD values produced. The disadvantage of using these instruments is that they can only measure the texture depth in the milling direction. By combining the surface texture measurements using the CTM and those linear measurement instruments, it is possible to assess the surface texture depth in terms of RVD values over a large milled surface area along the milling direction as well as that perpendicular and diagonal to the milling direction. Since the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) had both the CTM and ULIP available and had experience using these two instruments in measuring pavement macrotexture (8), it was decided to use CTM and ULIP in this research study for evaluating micromilled surface texture depths. The ULIP consists of a SEGWAY Human Transporter onto which a sensor box is mounted in the front and a connection between the sensor and a laptop computer attached to the SEGWAY for data acquisition and analysis. The sensor box is equipped with triggers, a laser, and accelerometers. The ULIP is capable of measuring pavement surface texture at sample intervals of 0.5 mm with a vertical resolution of better than 0.01 mm.

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ASSESSMENT OF MICROMILLED SURFACE TEXTURE Evaluation of the micromilled surface texture was conducted on eight test sections for this project. The first test section (S1) was marked on the first day of the micromilling, the last test section (S8) was marked near the end of the construction, and the remaining test sections were spaced throughout the construction period. A test section was approximately 1000 ft. long, and two 150-ft. data collection sections were selected within the 1000-ft. test section. A 150-ft. section was the typical length used by the ULIP for collection of pavement surface texture data. In addition to the eight test sections, a trial test for measuring surface texture depths on a conventionally milled asphalt pavement using the CTM and the ULIP was performed at another location before the I-75 evaluation began. Typical conventionally milled and micromilled surface textures are shown in Figures 3 and 4 respectively. The milled surface texture for a 150-ft. data collection section was measured by the ULIP first (see Figure 3). The ULIP data were collected along 2 to 4 paths: about 12 in. from both edges, at width, and at width of the milled lane. Three runs were performed over the same ULIP traveling path. After the ULIP measurements were completed, CTM measurements of surface textures were performed on each of the 150 ft. ULIP measuring paths at three locations: near the beginning, at the midpoint, and near the end of the section. Triplicate CTM tests were performed at each of the locations.

FIGURE 3 Conventionally milled surface texture.

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FIGURE 4 Micromilled surface texture. Analysis of ULIP Data The ULIP measured the surface texture depth at 0.5 mm intervals on the entire 150-ft. measuring length. There were over 90,000 data points for each of the 150-ft. measurement runs. As mentioned above, the ULIP measuring was conducted on two to four measuring paths for each of data collection section, and at least three runs were performed per 150 ft. long measuring path. When calculating RVD values from the ULIP data, a base length unit was selected, and the maximum ridge and minimum valley within the base length unit was captured by the software and was used to calculate the RVD value for this base length unit. The RVD values obtained from each base length unit were used to calculate the Mean, p50 to p99 percentile RVD, and the corresponding MPD values for each measuring path. The values obtained for each measuring paths were then averaged to obtain the corresponding Mean, p50 to p99 percentile RVD, and MPD values for the test section. There were several important issues related to the RVD obtained from the ULIP measurements which could affect the compliance of the micromilled surface texture depth requirements. These included (1) selection of an appropriate base length unit for calculating RVD from the ULIP data, and (2) selection of appropriate RVD parameters, Mean RVD, p90, p95, or other parameters to relate to the milled texture depth requirements. Selection of base length units could play an important role in computing RVD values. Different base length units, e.g., 50 mm, 100 mm, 200 mm, 500 mm, or others, could be selected for calculating the RVD. The results shown in (9) indicated that using a longer base lengths consistently resulted in higher Mean RVD and p50 to p99 percentile RVD values. The averaged ratios of the Mean RVD values obtained from 200 mm and 500 mm base length units to that obtained from a 100 mm base length unit for all eight test sections were 1.26 and 1.56, respectively, while the ratios for that of p95 RVD were 1.17 and 1.33, respectively (9). According to ASTM E1845 (4), 100 mm was specified as the base length for calculating MPD.

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Therefore, to be consistent with the base length specified in ASTM E1845, a 100 mm base length was used for calculating the RVD values in this study for assessing the compliance of the ridgeto-valley milled surface texture depths. The other issue involved the selection of appropriate RVD parameters, Mean RVD, p90, p95, or other parameters to relate to the milled texture depth requirements in the Special Provision. After discussion with several statisticians and pavement engineers, it was agreed that using Mean RVD to relate to the compliance of the 1.6 mm milling accuracy requirement was reasonable. On the other hand, the consensus was that either p90 RVD or p95 RVD could be chosen to relate to the compliance of the 3.2 mm requirement for corrective actions. Table 1 presents the MPD, Mean, p90, and p95 RVD values along the milling direction (3rd - 6th columns) for the eight test sections. Since these RVD values were along the milling direction, they might not represent the corresponding highest RVD over the milled surfaces. The surface texture measurements by CTM could help here, as discussed later. The ratios of Mean RVD to MPD for the eight sections shown in Table 1 were 2.69 0.23, indicating that the macrotexture profiles are not symmetrical. TABLE 1. Estimation of Maximum RVD Values
Section Milling ID Speed ft/min C1 S1-1 ? S2-2 14 S32 S4-12 S4-22 S5-1 28 S5-2 28 S6 24 S7 23 S8 19
1 2

RVD Data, mm MPD 0.91 0.32 Mean 3.35 2.24 0.84 1.62 1.77 1.73 1.87 1.92 1.63 1.89 1.62 p90 5.17 3.90 1.34 2.54 2.82 2.73 2.89 3.02 2.41 2.93 2.52 p95 5.80 4.41 1.58 2.98 3.27 3.19 3.30 3.47 2.78 3.33 2.87

0.66 0.68 0.61 0.68 0.61

Maximum Direction Ratio (See Table 2) 1.44 1.31 1.25 1.45 1.11 1.19 1.45 1.26 1.30 1.11 1.06

Estimated Maximum RVD, mm Mean 4.84 2.93 1.05 2.35 1.96 2.06 2.71 2.42 2.12 2.10 1.72 p90 7.44 5.11 1.68 3.68 3.13 3.25 4.19 3.81 3.13 3.25 2.67 p95 8.35 5.78 1.98 4.32 3.63 3.80 4.79 4.37 3.61 3.70 3.04

Conventional milling

ULIP measurements were not performed for these sections. RVD values for these sections along the milling direction were estimated from regression equations developed using the RVD and CTM data from the other test sections. Analysis of CTM Data Table 2 summarizes the MPD values of the micromilled surface textures obtained from the CTM measurements along the milling direction (Segments A and E) and that perpendicular (Segments C and G) and diagonal (other four segments) to the milling direction for all eight test sections. The averaged MPD for the entire eight segments among the eight test sections are mostly about 1.00 mm 0.2 mm, except Section 1-1. This is substantially lower than the 2.00 mm mentioned

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in (1). The results shown in Table 2 indicate that the maximum texture depths in all eight test sections occurred in the direction either perpendicular or diagonal to the milling direction. The ratios of CG/AE and Diagonal/AE to that along the milling direction varied from 1.03 to 1.45, with an average of 1.21. TABLE 2. Summaries of MPD Data in All Directions for 8 Test Sections
Section A-E C 1.99 S1-1 1.19 S2-2 0.68 S3 0.89 S4-1 0.95 S4-2 0.93 S5-1 0.96 S5-2 0.91 S6 0.82 S7 1.03 S8 0.90 Average
1

MPD Values, mm C-G 2.87 1.56 0.77 1.29 0.98 1.10 1.39 1.15 1.07 1.1 0.93 Diagonal 2.72 1.51 0.85 1.13 1.05 1.11 1.25 1.06 1.05 1.14 0.95

Ratios to Milling Direction Avg. of 8 Diagonal Average Segments. CG/AE /AE Ratio 2.58 1.44 1.37 1.40 1.44 1.31 1.27 1.28 0.79 1.13 1.25 1.21 1.11 1.45 1.27 1.33 1.01 1.03 1.11 1.08 1.07 1.18 1.19 1.19 1.22 1.45 1.30 1.35 1.07 1.26 1.16 1.19 1.00 1.30 1.28 1.29 1.11 1.07 1.11 1.10 0.93 1.03 1.06 1.05 1.22 1.20 1.21

Conventional milling

Estimation of Maximum RVD Values According to the CTM test results presented in Table 2, the maximum surface texture depths for all the test sections occurred either in the directions perpendicular or diagonal to the milling direction. This would infer that the maximum RVD of the milled surface would most likely occur also in these directions. If it was assumed that the RVD in the directions parallel, perpendicular, and diagonal to the milling direction would be proportional to the corresponding MPD values in the three directions determined by the CTM, then estimation of the maximum RVD values could be made by multiplying the RVD values obtained from ULIP along the milling direction by the maximum direction ratios obtained from CTM data. Results of the estimated maximum Mean, p90, and p95 RVD values obtained for the eight test sections by this approach are presented in the last 3 columns in Table 1. Smoothness of Micromilled Surfaces After the milled surface was swept clean, the smoothness of the milled surface was measured immediately using the Laser Road Profiler (LRP) as part of routine GDOT quality assurance. The smoothness was measured on all the milled surfaces for the entire project, including the eight test sections. Most of the milled surface for this project had smoothness readings ranging from 650 to 825 mm/km, except at the beginning of the project, where some segments of the milled surface failed to meet the smoothness requirements. These areas were re-milled in accordance with specifications and met requirements after the corrective work.

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RVD PARAMETERS FOR ASSESSING MILLED TEXTURE DEPTH REQUIREMENTS When selecting appropriate RVD parameters for assessing the milled surface texture to meet the acceptance criteria, such as those in the Special Provisions for this construction project, the availability of the device and the ease for acquiring the data for quality assurance must be considered. The RVD parameters selected must be easily acquired shortly after the milling operation is completed, in order that compliance of the milled surface quality can be determined immediately. A preliminary investigation indicated that the software for determining ridge-tovalley pavement surface texture depths is available that can be readily incorporated into laserbased profilers currently used by most state DOTs for measuring pavement smoothness. This would allow RVD values (in the milling direction) to be acquired by the same profiler when measuring the pavement smoothness without requiring much additional effort; however, an additional device such as the CTM would be required for estimating RVD beyond the milling direction. Based on the considerations mentioned above, Mean RVD and p95 RVD respectively were suggested for measuring the 1.6 mm and 3.2 mm RVD requirements in the Special Provision for the following reasons. Using the Mean RVD along the milling direction instead of using the maximum Mean RVD would be reasonable for determining the compliance of the 1.6 mm milling accuracy requirement, primarily because the difference between them was small and the potential effect on the long-term performance would not be as critical as that of the 3.2 mm requirement would. As mentioned before, either p90 RVD or p95 RVD could be chosen for determining the compliance of the 3.2 mm requirement. The results shown in Table 3 indicate that the maximum p90 RVD and the p95 RVD values along the milling direction among the eight test sections are quite close. Therefore, the p95 RVD in the milling direction was suggested to be the parameter determining the compliance of the 3.2 mm requirement. TABLE 3. Ratio of Estimated Maximum p90 RVD to Measured p95 RVD
p95 RVD, mm, (per ULIP) 4.41 1.58 2.98 3.27 3.19 3.3 3.47 2.78 3.33 2.87 3.12 0.70 Estimated Maximum p90 RVD, mm 5.11 1.68 3.68 3.13 3.25 4.19 3.81 3.13 3.25 2.67 3.39 0.91 Ratio (3)/(2) 1.16 1.06 1.23 0.96 1.02 1.27 1.10 1.13 0.98 0.93 1.08 0.11

Section S1-1 S2-2 S31 S4-11 S4-21 S5-1 S5-2 S6 S7 S8 Average STD
1

See Note (2) in Table 1

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Using these two parameters, Mean RVD for the 1.6 mm milling accuracy requirement and p95 RVD for determining the requirement for corrective actions, the results shown in Table 1 indicate that the test sections S2-2, S3, S6, and S8 could meet the requirements; S1-1, S5-1, S5-2, and S7 fail the requirements; and S4-1 and S4-2 are borderline. The approximate speed at which the milling machine was operating during the milling of different test sections is also presented in Table 1 (2nd column). The results indicate that by keeping the milling speed to about 20 ft/min or less (see Test Sections S2-2 and S8) the milled surface texture depths could meet the 1.6 mm and 3.2 mm requirements. This would indicate that the RVD requirements are achievable and cost effective from the construction standpoint. The discussions presented above indicate that, by using the existing micromilling practice, the milling contractor could achieve the quality requirements in GDOTs micromilling Special Provision. Since the milled surface was exposed to traffic, riding quality should also be a factor for assessing the appropriateness of the micromilled surface texture requirements. The micromilled surfaces for this project were quite smooth and the riding on the surfaces was quite comfortable, comparable to that of diamond-ground concrete pavement surfaces. Therefore, one could conclude that the micromilling requirements are appropriate from the riding standpoint. Comparatively, the corresponding Mean RVD and p95 RVD (4.84 mm and 8.35 mm respectively) for the conventionally milled surface (Section C) shown in Table 1 were significantly higher and had very poor riding quality. EVALUATION OF BOND STRENGTH Although a requirement for the bond strength between the milled surface and the PEM overlay was not stipulated in the acceptance criteria for this project, evaluation of bond strength was conducted in this investigation as it could affect the performance of the PEM in terms of potential delamination. Two test sections comparing tack coat application rates, one at 0.06 gal/yd2 and the other at 0.08 gal/yd2, were constructed using PG 67-22 asphalt cement. These represent the typical range of tack rates used by GDOT. Six-inch cores were cut from these two test sections at approximately seven weeks and at seven months after the PEM was placed. Testing of the bond strength was performed about one week after the cores were taken from the pavements. The bond strength tests were performed by NCAT using a Marshall Tester with a specially designed shear device for applying the shear force across the interface between the PEM layer and the micromilled surface. During the testing, the cores were oriented so that the shear force was applied along the milling direction. The following testing parameters recommended by West, et al. (11) and Sholar, et al. (12) were followed when performing the bond strength testing, and the test results are presented in Table 4. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Specimen diameter: 6 inches, Mode of loading: strain controlled, Rate of loading: 2 in/min, Testing temperature: 77F Confining stress: No normal stress applied on the test specimen

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Lai, Bruce, Jared, Wu, and Hines TABLE 4. Bond Strength Test Results Bond Strength, psi (average of 6 cores) 7 weeks 63.0 85.6 7 months 118.6 125.2

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Age after paving Section 1 (0.06 gal/yd2) Section 2 (0.08 gal/yd2)

As suggested by West, et al (11), average bond strength of 100 psi (for the cores taken within one week after paving) was representative between typical HMA pavement layers against slippage failure, bond strength between 50 psi to 100 psi was considered marginal, and below 50 psi was inadequate. Based on these criteria, the bond strength test results shown in Table 4 indicated that the bond strength developed in the two test sections in 7 weeks was marginal against slippage failure. The bond strengths in both test sections increased substantially from seven weeks to seven months. Also the test results showed that the test section with a 0.08 gal/yd2 tack rate had higher bond strength than that with a 0.06 gal/yd2 tack rate. No slippage failure was observed on the PEM surfaces of this project 7-9 months after the construction. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Replacing conventional milling with micro-milling allows PEM to be placed directly on the milled surface. This would result in significant savings compared with conventional milling, which would require placement of a dense-graded HMA before placing the PEM layer. The estimated cost savings for the construction project described in the paper was approximately $58,000 per lane mile. The following conclusions can be drawn from this research study. 1. The GDOT Special Provision for the micromilling and PEM overlay stipulated that the micromilling must produce the milled surface with the RVD of surface texture at a 1.6 mm milling accuracy and requiring corrective actions when the RVD exceeded 3.2 mm. Results from the research indicated that these requirements are not too restrictive and are achievable and cost effective with current micromilling technology. 2. Projects considered for this process should be carefully evaluated for suitability. This process is a rehabilitative method for open-graded friction courses and does not correct structural deficiencies. Adequate and sound underlying pavement structure is necessary if real cost savings and long term benefits are to be attained. 3. The ULIP was used for determining the RVD depths of the micromilled surfaces along the milling direction, and the CTM was used for determining the MPD of the milled surface along the milling direction as well as perpendicular and diagonal to it. The results indicated that the maximum MPD in all eight test sections occurred in the direction either diagonal to or perpendicular to the milling direction. Ratios of MPD values in the perpendicular and diagonal directions to that in the milling direction varied between 1.03 and 1.45, with an average of 1.21.

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4. It is suggested that Mean RVD and p95 RVD parameters along the milling direction be used, respectively, for determining the compliance of the 1.6 mm and the 3.2 mm RVD requirements stipulated in the Special Provision. The reasons for selecting these two parameters were (1) ease of timely data acquisition for quality assurance purposes, since most of the laser-based profilers could easily acquire the capability to measure these parameters; and (2) these RVD values can be acquired by the same profiler when measuring the pavement smoothness. Results from the eight test sections indicated that by keeping the milling speed to about 20 ft/min or slower for the milling equipment used in this project, the milled surface texture depths could meet the 1.6 mm and 3.2 mm requirements. 5. The bond strength testing was performed on the cores taken from the test sections with 0.06 gal/yd2 and 0.08 gal/yd2 tack rates. For the cores taken after seven weeks, the bond strengths were below 100 psi and were considered marginal against potential slippage failure. The bond strengths in both test sections increased substantially from seven weeks to seven months. The cores taken from the test section with 0.08 gal/yd2 tack rate had higher bond strengths than that with 0.06 gal/yd2 tack rate. No slippage failure was observed on all of the PEM surfaces of this project 7-9 months after construction.

TRB 2009 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.

Lai, Bruce, Jared, Wu, and Hines REFERENCES

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1. Mokarem, D. W., Hot-Mix Asphalt Placement: Virginias Move to a Two-Inch Drop Off, Report No. 06-R19, Virginia Transportation Research Council, February 2006. 2. American Society of Testing and Materials, ASTM E 965 - 96, Standard Test Method for Measuring Pavement Macrotexture Depth Using a Volumetric Technique (Reapproved 2006). 3. American Society of Testing and Materials, ASTM E 2157 01, Standard Test Method for Measuring Pavement Macrotexture Properties Using the Circular Track Meter, (Reapproved 2005) 4. American Society of Testing and Materials, ASTM E 1845 01, Standard Practice for Calculating Pavement Macrotexture Mean Profile Depth, (Reapproved 2005). 5. Hanson, D.G. and B.D. Prowell, Evaluation of Circular Track Meter for Measuring Surface Texture of Pavements, National Center for Asphalt Technology, NCAT Report 04-05. 6. Federal Highway Administration. 1997. ROSAN Makes Manual Pavement Testing Obsolete, Transporter - January, FHWA-RD-97-011, McLean, Virginia. 7. Rowe, G. M., Meegoda, J. N., Jumikis, A. A., Sharrock, M. J., Bandara, N. and H. Hettiarachchi, Detection of Segregation in Asphalt Pavement Materials Using the ARAN Profile System, 8. Smit, Andre de Fortier, and Brian Waller, Evaluation of the Ultra-Light Inertial Profiler (ULIP) for Measuring Surface Texture of Pavements Technical Report NCAT Report 0701, National Center for Asphalt Technology, February, 2007. 9. Lai, James S., Assessing Techniques and Performance of Thin PEM Overlay on MicroMilled Surfaces, Technical Report submitted to the Office of Materials and Research, Georgia Department of Transportation, January, 2008. 10. McGhee, K. K., G. W. Flintsch, and E. de Leon Izeppi, Using High-Speed Texture Measurements to Improve Uniformity of Hot-Mix Asphalt, VTRC 03-R12, 11. West, R.C., J. Zhang and J. Moor, Evaluation of Bond Strength between Pavement Layers, NCAT Report 05-08, National Center for Asphalt Technology, December 2005. 12. Sholar, G.A., G.C. Page, J.A. Musselman, P.B. Upshaw, and H.L. Moseley, Preliminary Investigation of a Test Method to Evaluate Bond Strength of Bituminous Tack Coats, Journal of the Association of Asphalt Pavement Technologists, Volume 73, 2004.

TRB 2009 Annual Meeting CD-ROM

Paper revised from original submittal.