U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Focus
| Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations |
Publication Number: FHWA-RD-01-065
Date: July 2001
Now in its second decade, the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program has encompassed the building and monitoring of nearly 2,300 pavement sections. The data collected has resulted in more than 40 research reports and a range of products that meet pavement technology needs. To better define the future development and delivery of LTPP products, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Transportation Research Board's Subcommittee on LTPP Product Development and Delivery have prepared a new LTPP Product Plan. FHWA's Office of Pavement Technology is responsible for managing this important phase of the LTTP program.
The goals of the LTPP product program are to deliver such ready-to-use items as guidelines, procedures, software, and equipment to State departments of transportation (DOT). The Product Plan outlines a product "means test" that will help determine the advancement of a product idea. Among other criteria, a product must:
As the plan notes, "Few practitioners have the time or skill to sift through thousands of pages of research reports or lines of data in a database. LTPP recognizes this fact and will strive to present easy-to-understand and easy-to apply products."
LTPP products that are scheduled to debut later this year include the DataPave 3.0 CD-ROM, which will contain additional data on traffic, materials, performance, environment, and other variables at the LTPP test sections. Also in the works are an improved start-up procedure for resilient modulus testing and guidelines for temperature adjustment of falling-weight deflectometer test results on asphalt pavements.
To obtain a copy of the Product Plan (Publication No. FHWA-RD-01-086), contact the FHWA Research and Technology Report Center at 301-577-0906 (fax: 301-577-1421; email: report.center@fhwa.dot.gov). For more information visit the LTPP Web site: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/ltpp/index.cfm.
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A new brochure available from FHWA highlights the benefits of the LTPP program to date. An Investment Benefiting America's Highways: The Long Term Pavement Performance Program (Publication No. FHWA-RD-01-094) describes the current and future benefits to State highway agencies and highway users as a result of using such LTPP products as falling-weight deflectometer calibration procedures, the LTPPBind software program, and new pothole repair procedures. As Frank Francois, the former Executive Director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, notes, "LTPP is a major contributor toward assuring that we will have good pavements into the 21st century." The brochure can be found on the Web at www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/ltpp/brochure.cfm. For more information on rapid deployment, contact Eric Kline at KTA-Tator, Inc., 412-788-1300, ext. 206 (email: ekline@kta.com) or Matt Wagner with the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 717-939-9551, ext. 5210 (email: mwagner@paturnpike.com).
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