BEERBURRUM DEVIATION LONG TERM PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE STUDY: LESSONS FROM THE FIRST SIX YEARS

In the 1980s there were significant early granular pavement failures on the Bruce Highway. As the Beerburrum Deviation was under construction at this time a variety of strengthened pavements were used to avoid similar occurrences. The resulting mix of pavements over the 26 km Deviation presented the opportunity for monitoring and comparative evaluation of granular, CTB and CTSB pavements over their whole life under similar environmental and traffic conditions. This monitoring of 18 test sites started with construction and has continued over the first six years of the operation of the Deviation and has included: Benkelman beam deflection surveys; crack mapping; roughness surveys; excavation and coring; and materials testing. This paper presents the results of testing carried out during construction and over the period 1985-1991 as well as the lessons learned from this monitoring. These results have confirmed ALF Beerburrum findings on the CTB failure mechanism and deflection changes, and demonstrated the relatively longer life of cemented pavements despite early cracking and pumping. (A) For the covering entry of this conference, see IRRD abstract no. 843369.