Pavement engineers use their knowledge of pavement materials, soils and water usage, and more to determine the best options for maintaining and renovating existing pavements.
Ever wondered about the process of deciding the ways and means of building roads, sidewalks and more? It starts with pavement engineering.
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the saying, “If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail.” Pavement engineering is a lot about planning and keeping existing pavement structures from failing.
As a part of civil engineering, there are two sides of pavement engineering: planning and maintenance. Explore the ins and outs of the pavement engineering we do at Tucker Paving to have a better understanding of everything that goes into the process of preplanning construction and maintaining pavement.
Pavement Engineering and Planning
Pavement engineers are involved in the planning, placement, and materials used for streets, highways, walkways, sidewalks and more. They utilize their knowledge of soils and runoff, the properties of asphalt and concrete and other materials, weathering, hydraulics, usage, and more to determine the best materials, formulations, and building processes to use to install new pavement structures. This includes focusing on creating a long-lasting and useful structure, minimizing maintenance, and keeping costs as low as possible.
Pavement Engineering and Maintenance
Pavement engineering also encompasses the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing asphalt and concrete pavement structures. Pavement engineers use their knowledge of pavement materials, surrounding ground soils and water, usage, and more to determine the best options for maintaining and renovating existing pavements, both flexible asphalt pavement and rigid concrete pavement.
Similarly, the maintenance and rehabilitation portion of pavement engineering includes using engineering techniques and judgements to extend the life of asphalt and concrete pavements with as low a cost as possible.
Techniques pavement engineers use to assess the condition and best maintenance and rehabilitation measures for asphalt or concrete pavements include the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), which is a numerical index used to assess the general condition of a pavement, and Falling Weight Deflectometer, a test that determines the physical properties of a pavement.
At Tucker Paving, we use pavement engineering techniques in the installation of new asphalt and concrete pavements, as well as in the maintenance and/or rehabilitation phases to determine the best options for creating long-lasting, functional, and cost-effective pavements.
Contact us for your next pavement project or call us at 863-299-2262.