Performance Evaluation of Chip Seal Treatment on Flexible Pavements

Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) pavement preservation program consists of various pavement preservation treatments, including single, double, and triple chip seals. Such treatments are applied mainly to collectors and local roads. Louisiana DOTD has spent substantial financial resources on various rehabilitation and maintenance treatments to minimize the pavement distresses and improve the pavement life. However, the effectiveness of any treatment largely depends on the time of treatment and trigger governed by treatment performance models. This study focuses on the performance evaluation of chip seal treatment on flexible pavements using the before and after treatment performance data. The treatment benefits in terms of remaining service life, service life extension, and treatment life were evaluated using the treatment transition matrix. Such analysis yielded effective treatment trigger values for each distress type. In addition, the before and after treatment data were utilized to develop IRI and transverse cracking prediction models for chip seal treatment on flexible pavements.