Life-Extending Benefit of Crack Sealing for Pavement Preservation

Abstract

Crack sealing and filling is used as a pavement preservation treatment to prevent water infiltration and loss of load-carrying capacity, hence extending the life of the pavement. This study used field performance data of test sections from the Pavement Preservation Group (PG) Study being conducted in part by the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT). Data from test sections located in a low traffic volume road with a hot, wet, no-freeze climate collected over a period of more than 6 years were used to evaluate the effect of crack sealing and filling, either as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with other surface treatments. A semi-parametric survival analysis was performed to determine the difference in median time to failure (MTTF) for sections with and without crack sealing. The results showed that when used as a stand-alone treatment on a pavement in “good” condition, the life-extending benefit from crack sealing/filling could not be calculated for the selected analysis period because the MTTF would not be reached within 10 years. The estimated benefit for pavements in “fair” and “poor” condition ranged from 1.1 to 7.3 years, depending on pretreatment condition and travel lane. If used in combination with a chip seal, the additional life-extending benefit for a pavement in “good” condition is approximately 2 years, and is slightly decreased to approximately 1.5 years if the pavement is in “fair” to “poor” category. Test sections continue to be monitored as part of a broader long-term study.