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Pavement Preservation & Innovation

Mission Statement

Caltrans invests millions of dollars each year in pavement maintenance activities. Documented performance of the pavement maintenance treatments placed during these activities is important in order for Caltrans to determine which maintenance alternative is the best option to use. Many factors weigh in on this decision such as; existing pavement geometry, construction materials, location (District), environment and cost. One cost effective process when determining which maintenance technique to apply is the construction of test sections where performance can be monitored over time. The purpose of this manual is to assist Caltrans personnel when selecting test section locations where specific maintenance treatments are to be evaluated. This manual offers guidelines in terms of location, field and laboratory testing, and scheduling of periodic monitoring of performance. The manual supplements the “Maintenance Technical Advisory Guide (TAG)” and the “Guide to the Investigation and Remediation of Distress in Flexible Pavements” and uses information from those documents as well as past test section project evaluations located throughout the State of California.

Documents