TRANSPORTATION: PAVEMENT ENGINEERING DESIGN

C3TS’ expertise in pavement design and forensic engineering extends to both private and public transportation facilities. Whether our clients’ needs pertain to a main local road, a major arterial, a complex expressway, or an airfield pavement, C3TS brings a wealth of knowledge to selecting the right solution. We are engaged in all disciplines of pavement engineering, including analysis and designs of new flexible and rigid pavement, rehabilitation design of existing pavements, Pavement Management Systems development and implementation, pavement evaluation, forensic investigation and pavement research. We also have expertise in pavement performance modeling and Life Cycle Cost Analysis.

The following are the descriptions of our areas of expertise in pavement engineering: 

1. PAVEMENT ANALYSIS & DESIGN
2. PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
3. PAVEMENT EVALUATION & FORENSIC INVESTIGATION

PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Pavement Management Systems is a decision making tool employed in developing cost-effective maintenance and rehabilitation strategies at the project or the network level. We collect and analyze pavement condition data and use it to rate uniform sections of the pavement networks based on a combination of various distresses. The pavement sections are then prioritized from worst to best based on the ratings. We recommend treatments for each deficient section to bring it up to an acceptable level, based on established decision trees and performance life, taking into consideration the location, traffic, and the distribution of distresses within the section. We have the expertise to provide assistance in all aspects of pavement management including the design, development and implementation of new decision support systems.

PAVEMENT EVALUATION & FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
Pavements are evaluated to assess surface operational condition and structural integrity, and to estimate the existing strengths of individual pavement layer material in order to determine their remaining service life. We have trained personnel and access to equipment required to complete thorough pavement evaluations and forensic investigation.

EXPERIENCE

C3TS has extensive pavement design and management experience in Florida. Serving as prime consultant, we have completed the rehabilitation design for several projects for the Florida Department of Transportation. Notable among them are the rigid pavement design of SR 9A (I-95) Managed Lanes Design-Build project, (from South of SR 112 to North of SR 826), including the pavement design of the Toll Gantry terminals; and the recent pavement design of the 10.5 miles of the State Road 862 (I-595) Corridor Improvement Project (approximately $1.5 billion project cost) under a Public Private Partnership (P-3) venture. The pavement design component of this project included several segments of roadways with varied characteristics. Pavement design and analysis was carried out for both rehabilitation (milling and resurfacing or overlay) and new pavement, including pavement design for a new three lane reversible express lane system. For the express lanes, C3TS considered both flexible pavement and rigid pavement designs using the new AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design procedure and carried out a Life Cycle Cost Analysis, based on well-established performance lives, in order to recommend the most cost effective design. This project illustrates our capability to provide unique and innovative solutions on difficult design and construction projects. We are currently providing this types of service to other P-3 ventures in Florida.

C3TS performed an in-depth pavement evaluation for the United States Navy at the Key West Naval Air Station in order to determine the cause of rapid deterioration of recently installed asphalt pavement on Runway 7-25 and its associated taxiways. Subsequently, recommendations were provided for remedial action as well as design modifications for the future resurfacing project on Runway 13-31. In the marine sector, C3TS has designed rigid pavements for 300 ton travel lifts as well as numerous concrete ramp pavements for boat ramp facilities using sulfate resistant concrete mixes along with silica fume and anti-corrosive admixtures. For our municipal clients, C3TS has performed numerous roadway evaluations in order to develop neighborhood and/or citywide street infrastructure condition reports used to establish maintenance and capital improvement budgets. For these projects, C3TS developed an in-depth testing and monitoring program that included asphalt and base cores, bituminous chemical and physical testing, plate load testing for determination of modulus of subgrade reaction, in place density tests and measurement of deflection using rolling straightedge and profilometers.

C3TS was also involved in the design and construction supervision of the widening of SR 9/I-95 in Miami-Dade County. This project consisted of adding travel and auxiliary lanes between Opa Locka Boulevard and NW 125th Street off-ramp terminals in the southbound direction. This project included the design and construction of a new 9-inch plain concrete slab over select permeable material and widening of three bridges within this segment of SR 9A to accommodate the new lanes. It was successfully completed in July 2008.

C3TS has provided construction engineering inspection on several pavement rehabilitation and construction projects. Most recent of which are SR 834 (Sample Road) from Military Trail to  Powerline Road and SR 845 (Powerline Road) from Sample Road  to Sawgrass Expressway, both in Broward County Florida.

The Town of Cutler Bay selected C3TS to provide professional services to assess the condition of approximately 90 miles of their existing roadway network.  This involved the development of a pavement classification and pavement condition rating methodology which was used to develop a simple Town GIS-based Pavement Management System for easy query and display of pavement condition and related information.  C3TS conducted an extensive field visual condition assessment of all roadways that fell under the jurisdiction of the Town of Cutler Bay. The field data was recorded directly into our database collection system by our experienced inspectors as the conditions were observed.  After all data was gathered, roadway segments were analyzed to develop a prioritized list of deficient sections that required maintenance or rehabilitation. C3TS developed maintenance and rehabilitation options for defined project areas and estimated construction costs taking into consideration recommendations within the Town’s Stormwater Master Plan.  The final report, including maps and data, which was completed in a record time of 6 months was used by the Town of Cutler Bay to develop their Capital Improvement Program for roadway resurfacing / rehabilitation and sidewalk repair and construction. 

For the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 5 miles of SR 5/US-1 South (one of Florida’s principal hurricane evacuation routes), from South of Canal Bridge to SW 34th Street in Miami-Dade County, C3TS performed pavement design for the road with a substantial portion passing over highly compressible organic soil material. This called for the evaluation of different alternatives to proved the most cost effective, economical, and the most environmentally friendly approach to implement the design. The alternatives evaluated included demucking and embankment construction, preloading and Geogrid Reinforced Fill Embankment over existing compressible soil to alleviate stresses from differential settlement, pile and Geogrid reinforced load transfer platform over existing compressible soil,  dry soil mixing, and lightweight aggregates fill. C3TS has used combinations of these approaches, together with the possible reduction in the design resilient modulus of the subgrade approach, in many other pavement design projects in Florida.