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Federal Highway Administration / Publications / Focus / November 2001

Accelerating Infrastructure Innovations

Publication Number: FHWA-RD-02-004
Date: November 2001

DataPave 3.0: Your Ticket to Pavement Performance Data

Accessing reliable national pavement performance data just became easier. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is releasing the updated DataPave 3.0 software this month, which contains data collected through the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program.

For more than a decade, the LTPP program has collected data from over 2,500 test sections located on about 930 sites at inservice highways throughout the United States and Canada. In an effort to provide potential users with better access to this data, the DataPave program was developed and first released in 1997. "This was the first time that the LTPP data was made available to a wide range of people," says Kurt Dunn of FHWA. Now DataPave 3.0 has been issued to facilitate improved access to even more LTPP data.

The updated user-friendly set of CD-ROMs includes pavement performance monitoring, material testing, climatic, traffic, maintenance, rehabilitation, seasonal, and inventory data. Ultimately, these data will serve as a valuable decision-support tool for engineers as they work to improve the design, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of pavements.

The new version of DataPave provides desktop access to most of the LTPP data collected between 1987 and May 2001. In addition to an increase in available data, DataPave 3.0 contains graph notes to distinguish raw data from computed data, enhanced data selection filters, and improvements that facilitate the extraction of site-specific records.

If a user wishes to analyze any of the small fraction of LTPP data not included in the software, DataPave 3.0 can help the user identify the specific data and prepare a request for submission to an LTPP Customer Support Service representative.

In addition to the actual data from LTPP experiments, DataPave provides users with all of the necessary tools to examine and work with the data. Through the DataPave Section Selection process, DataPave users can choose test sections based on LTPP experimental test criteria (surface thickness, average daily traffic, or annual precipitation), or by locating sections on a map of the United States and Canada. The data can then be displayed in several ways. The "Map module" displays information for all LTPP sites in a Geographical Information System form, whereas the "Section Presentation module" provides specific information about the location, type of experiment, pavement layer, and selected falling-weight deflectometer profiles. Another alternative is the "Chart/Trend module," which presents time histories of several key distress indicators, such as spalling, rutting, and fatigue cracking. The "Data Base Exploration and Extraction module" allows the extraction of tables and fields for selected sections and provides several useful tools, such as a keyword search, SQL (structured query language) option, codes listing, and the LTPP data request form. DataPave 3.0 also provides online help for users.

The increased efficiency and usefulness of the new software will expand LTPP data applications among highway agencies and university faculty and students, as well as industry researchers and practitioners throughout North America and the world.

For more information about DataPave 3.0 and the LTPP program, or to obtain a copy of DataPave 3.0, visit the LTPP Web site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/ltpp/datapave.cfm, or contact LTPP Customer Support Service at 865-481-2967 (email: LTPPINFO@fhwa.dot.gov).

International Contest on LTPP Data Analysis

FHWA, in association with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), is launching the third International Contest on LTPP Data Analysis. The contest is designed to encourage university students and professors from around the world to use the LTPP database for research, class projects, and Master's and Doctoral theses.

This year's contest offers four categories: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Partnership (for students working with a public or private organization), and Curriculum (for professors who integrate the LTPP database into their class curriculum). In addition to receiving a prize, award winners will be recognized at an ASCE meeting and the Transportation Research Board annual meeting.

The deadline for submission of papers is June 1, 2002. For more information about the contest, visit the LTPP Web Site at www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/ltpp/datapave.cfm.

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Updated: 06/27/2017
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