Application of Ground Penetration Radar and Light Weight Deflectometer for Pavement Quality Control and Quality Assessment

Abstract

Pavement evaluation requires the frequent assessment of structural and functional condition. Earlier functional assessment of pavement were rapid and non destructive whereas structural evaluation required destructive testing. With growth in technology the light weight deflectometer (LWD) and ground penetrating radar (GPR) replaced the destructive testing in most part of the world. This paper highlights the use of LWD and GPR as non destructive testing tool in pavement evaluation. LWD and GPR test were conducted on the granular material to investigate the composite modulus of layer for their quality assessment. LWD test results were found to be significantly affected by the base plate diameter, contact between plate and surface layer, whereas drop height does not show significant difference on composite modulus. GPR technology has showed its versatility in pavement layer thickness evaluation, void and crack detection, and sub surface exploration. Ground coupled GPR has been used for subsurface exploration. At project level pavement management system, the combined use of GPR and deflection testing device has resulted in effective monitoring of pavement structural capacity. Hence LWD and GPR had showed its effectiveness for quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) in PMS.