Site Preparation
Getting the ground or the existing surface ready to pave: subgrade preparation for new pavements, surface preparation and tack coats for overlays, and geosynthetics.
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Subgrade Preparation for New Pavements
The overall strength and performance of a pavement is dependent not only upon its design (including both mix design and structural design) but also on the load-bearing capacity of the subgrade soil.
Existing Surface Preparation for Overlays
Overlays (either structural or non-structural) make up a large portion of the roadway paving done today. The degree of surface preparation for an overlay is dependent on the condition and type of the existing pavement.
Surface Preparation
Before a pavement is placed the surface to be paved must be prepared. Adequate surface preparation is essential to long-term pavement performance.
Tack Coats
Note: This section is largely a synthesis of the following two tack coat publications:
Geosynthetics
The primary purpose of incorporating geosynthetics in the pavement design process is to reduce reflective cracking in HMA overlays and to resist moisture intrusion into the underlying pavement structure.
Embankment and Base Compaction Control
How embankment, subgrade and base compaction is controlled: lifts, moisture conditioning, rollers, test frequency, proof rolling and when to retest.