The Rantoul demonstration project: Techniques for reflective crack mitigation at GA Airports

A demonstration project involving researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Illinois Division of Aeronautics IDOA was developed to investigate innovative construction techniques and materials for the rehabilitation of general aviation airports (GA) to prevent reflective cracking. These techniques involved: pavement rubblization using coarse, medium, and fine breaking patterns; the saw and seal technique; polymer-modified mixtures; and the use of an interlayer stress absorbing composite (ISAC). Besides providing full-scale field trials for the aforementioned rehabilitation techniques, a second objective of the project was to collect response and performance data that will be used in the development of mechanistic overlay design procedures. To this end, a variety of pavement sensors were installed to measure the response of the pavement to applied loads and to environmental changes. This paper presents a summary of the experimental sections, materials, construction, instrumentation and preliminary measurements from the Rantoul National Aviation Center (RNAC) demonstration project. Using the Superpave Indirect Tensile Tester (IDT), the polymer-modified mixture used in the project was predicted to significantly outperform the conventional mixture with respect to thermal cracking resistance in the rubblized sections. Preliminary analyses suggest that accurate measures of temperature, joint deflection, and strain are being collected by RNAC test pavement sensors, and typical sensor measurements are presented. The information presented in this paper is intended to benefit both the practitioner and researcher, by presenting innovative methods, materials, and tools for the design of asphalt overlays to resist reflective cracking.