Book Description

The previous research performed laboratory experiments to measure the impacts of the curing on the indirect tensile strength of both CIR-foam and CIR-emulsion mixtures. However, a fundamental question was raised during the previous research regarding a relationship between the field moisture content and the laboratory moisture content. Therefore, during this research, both temperature and moisture conditions were measured in the field by embedding the sensors at a midpoint and a bottom of the CIR layer. The main objectives of the research are to: (1) measure the moisture levels throughout a CIR layer and (2) develop a moisture loss index to determine the optimum curing time of CIR layer before HMA overlay. To develop a set of moisture loss indices, the moisture contents and temperatures of CIR-foam and CIR-emulsion layers were monitored for five months. Based on the limited field experiment, the following conclusions are derived: The moisture content of the CIR layer can be monitored accurately using the capacitance type moisture sensor. The moisture loss index for CIR layers is a viable tool in determining the optimum timing for an overlay without measuring actual moisture contents. The modulus back-calculated based on the deflection measured by FWD seemed to be in a good agreement with the stiffness measured by geo-gauge. The geo-gauge should be considered for measuring the stiffness of CIR layer that can be used to determine the timing of an overlay. The stiffness of CIR-foam layer increased as a curing time increased and it seemed to be more influenced by a temperature than moisture content. The developed sets of moisture loss indices based on the field measurements will help pavement engineers determine an optimum timing of an overlay without continually measuring moisture conditions in the field using a nuclear gauge.