Glossary

Adhesion Failure:

Complete loss of bond between a sealant material and the side wall of the crack, reservoir or joint wall.

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT):

Total traffic volume carried by a roadway segment during one year, divided by 365 days.

Average Daily Traffic (ADT):

Total traffic volume carried by a roadway segment during a given period (in whole days), greater than 1 day and less than 1 year, divided by the number of days in that period.

Base Course:

Layer or layers of specified or selected material of designed thickness placed on a subbase or a subgrade to support a surface course.

Blowups:

The result of localized upward movement or shattering of a slab along a transverse joint or crack.

Crack Filling:

Placement of materials into nonworking cracks to substantially reduce infiltration of water. Generally, a reservoir is not prepared and the sealant is placed into the crack channel.

Crack Sealing:

Placement of specialized materials either above or into working cracks using a prepared reservoir configuration to prevent the intrusion of water and incompressible material into the crack.

Design Life:

Anticipated life of the pavement section at the time of initial construction. Design life, as fix life, does not include any additional life estimates provided by anticipated future preventive maintenance. This term is also used to define the number of years for which design Equivalent Single Axle Loads are calculated as an input parameter for formal pavement design calculations.

Earth Grade:

Completely graded roadway before placing the pavement structure.

Fix Life:

Anticipated pavement life provided by the fix, excluding any future pavement treatments.

Flush Coat:

Application of a fog seal followed by a sand cover to the surface of a new chip seal.

Incompressible Material:

Material that resists compression, such as stones, sand, and dirt in a crack or joint reservoir that is closing.

Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA):

An investigation of the present and future costs of each repair alternative, taking into account the effects of both inflation and interest rates on expenses over the life of the project.

Mineral Filler:

A finely divided mineral product, at least 70 percent of which will pass a 0.075 mm (No. 200) sieve. Pulverized limestone is the most commonly manufactured filler, although other stone dust, hydrated lime, Portland cement, and certain natural deposits of finely divided mineral matter are also used.

Overbanding:

Spreading a thin layer of sealant, about 1½” to 3” (38 to 76 mm), onto a pavement surface centered over a joint or crack at the same time that the sealant reservoir is filled. An overband configuration may be used in crack sealing or crack filling.

Pavement Preservation:

A program employing a network level, long-term strategy that enhances pavement performance by using an integrated, cost-effective set of practices that extend pavement life, improve safety and meet motorist expectations. – FHWA Pavement Preservation Expert Task Group

Pavement Reconstruction:

A fix that typically removes and replaces the entire pavement structure, sometimes the sand subbase may be left in place and incorporated in the new pavement structure. Reconstruction treatments have a fix life of 20 years or more.

Pavement Rehabilitation:

Structural enhancements that extend the service life of an existing pavement and restore or improve its load-carrying capability. Rehabilitation techniques include restoration treatments and structural overlays. – AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Maintenance

Pavement Structure:

Any combination of subbase, base course, and surface course, including shoulders, placed on a subgrade.

Pilot Car:

A specially equipped vehicle used to conduct traffic through temporarily restricted sections of roadway.

Pothole:

Localized distress in a asphalt-surfaced pavement resulting form the breakup of the asphalt surface and possibly the asphalt base course. Pieces of asphalt pavement created by the action of climate and traffic on the weakened pavement are then removed under the action of traffic, leaving a pothole.

Preventive Maintenance:

A planned strategy of cost-effective treatments to an existing roadway system and its appurtenances that preserves the system, retards future deterioration, and maintains or improves the functional condition of the system without significantly increasing the structural capacity. – AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways

Remaining Service Life (RSL):

Estimated number of years, from a specified date in time until a pavement section reaches the “threshold distress index,” i.e., the end of its service life. RSL is a function of the distress level and rate of deterioration.

Routine Maintenance:

Work that is planned and performed on a routine basis to maintain and preserve the condition of the highway system or to respond to specific conditions and events that restore the highway system to an adequate level of service. – AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Maintenance.

Scalping Screen:

Device that removes oversized aggregate or potential agglomerated material from being used in production.

Service Life:

Anticipated life of a rehabilitation or new/reconstruction, including additional pavement life provided by anticipated future preventive maintenance. This term is used to describe the number of years from the initial new construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of a pavement to a subsequent rehabilitation or reconstruction. A service life equals the sum of the original design/fix life plus any additional pavement life provided by future anticipated preventive maintenance. Analysis period is the term typically used to describe the time used in a life cycle cost analysis.

Shape Factor:

Ratio of the width to depth of a sealant.

Skid Resistance:

Resistance of a pavement to tires sliding over its surface; generally a function of the macro- and micro-texture of the pavement surface.

Soft Spots:

Settlement of earth-aggregate or surfaced roadways that can be attributed to either drainage or soil problems.

SSP:

Standard Special Provisions

Subbase:

Layer of specified material of designed thickness placed on the subgrade as a part of the pavement structure.

Subgrade:

That portion of the earth grade upon which the pavement structure is to be placed.

Surface-Texture:

Pavement surface characteristics that contribute to both friction and noise.

Track/Tracking:

The spreading of unstable sealant material along the pavement surface by traffic tires.