Construction of the Test Tracks at our Full Scale Facility for Accelerated Pavement Testing, the PaveLab

The construction of the test tracks at the full scale facily for accelerated pavement testing at the new buliding of the National Laboratory of Materials. and Structural Models of the University of Costa Rica. Six test tracks are being built, 3 are flexible and 3 semi-rigid using a CTB. The granular base was placed with finisher and the CTB mixed in a mixing truck and placed with a finisher as well!

This research effort corresponds to one of the most ambitious projects that have been developed in Latin America. The project team is integrated by 4 PhDs in pavements, 2 PhDs in geotechnical engineering, 2 PhDs in Hydraulics, and several engineers and chemist. The test tracks might have up to 84 sensors, including soil pressure gages, Multi-depth deflectometers, HMA pressure gages, LVDTs, among others. The testing device is a Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) Mark VI from Dynatest. The experiment also will have a temperature chamber, and the test pit has also the capability of providing water-saturation through a piping system and a saturation chamber built beside the test tracks. Also, natural raining will be simulated through a special system. Therefore, full in-place conditions will be simulated and their effect on the pavement performance, assessed!