STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Each month, or every other month, a student will provide a 1-page illustrated abstract of the research they are currently conducting. This is a wonderful opportunity for the student, for our International Society for Concrete Pavements (ISCP) Members, and for the transferring and sharing technology/research through our concrete paving industry.
The ISCP “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” for January 2024 is Matthew Sheffield, a Ph.D student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Charlotte, USA).
BIO:
Matthew Sheffield is a PhD student at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in the Infrastructure and Environmental Systems program, specializing in the advancement of concrete paving technologies in the southeastern United States. Matt is a unique PhD student who is an award-winning educator in the field of construction and engineering technologies at the community college level in North Carolina. Matt currently serves as a Professor and Program Coordinator of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Technologies program at Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst, NC. While working towards his PhD at UNC Charlotte, Matt has gained valuable knowledge and experience in Mechanistic-Empirical pavement design methods for flexible, semi-flexible, and rigid pavements, quality assurance and quality control techniques for performance engineered concrete mixtures, and concrete overlay pavement rehabilitation methods. The combination of his construction industry, educational, and teaching experiences create the perfecting pairing for developing materials to enhance knowledge transfer that is needed to help with advancing the implementation of rigid pavement methods.
TITLE:
Advancing the Use of Concrete Overlay Pavement Rehabilitation Methods as Targeted Solutions
Concrete overlays are characterized as a relatively thin layer of concrete that is added to an existing pavement to add structural integrity and eliminate any surface distresses that exist in the existing pavement. Concrete overlays have been a standard practice in some highway agencies since the mid-1980s (Harrington et al., 2014). In 1994 the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis of Practice 204 indicated that concrete overlays have a relatively low maintenance service life of 20 years and many have provided up to 30 to 40 years of service. The type of concrete overlay that is most appropriate is based upon the condition of the existing pavement structure and are either bonded or unbonded to the existing pavement. Bonded concrete overlays are suitable for existing pavements that are in good to fair structural condition, while an unbonded overlay is suitable for pavements in good to partially deteriorated conditions.
Performance engineered concrete mixtures (PEM) offer the contractor with the ability to incorporate innovation into the production, delivery, and performance of a given concrete structure. If constructed properly the incorporation of the PEM provisions into concrete overlay construction specifications will help to advance the implementation of this sustainable and long- lasting pavement rehabilitation method. Concrete overlays provide a promising solution to extending pavement life, and have been the focus of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative. Despite their potential benefits, concrete overlays are not commonly used in many areas of the United States, including the Southeast. A survey of 19 paving contractors active in the Southeastern United States was performed to quantify recent concrete overlay projects performed by these contractors, to assess the capabilities of contractors to construct concrete overlays in this region, and to identify barriers to implementation of concrete overlays as well as opportunities to increase their use. Findings indicated contractors in the region either had extensive overlay experience or no experience constructing concrete overlays.
The results of this study provide insight to regional state highway agencies, municipalities, and design engineers on the capabilities of concrete pavement contractors in the region to complete concrete overlay projects. Findings will help agencies understand the capabilities and concerns of concrete paving contractors and aid in informed decisions regarding overlays.
Future work is focused on the development of a standard specification for concrete overlay construction in North Carolina, and an comparative analysis of flexible and rigid pavement construction methods in North Carolina utilizing life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and life cycle analysis (LCA) methods.
ISCP would like to feature a “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” each month, or every other month. If you would like to nominate a student, or if you are a student and would like to nominate yourself or a colleague, please send ISCP an email to: newsletter@concretepavements.org
ALL SPOTLIGHTS:
DECEMBER 2021—Inaugural: Katelyn Kosar, Phd Student-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt): www.concretepavements.org/2021/12/14/new-at-iscp-student-research-spotlight/
JANUARY 2022: Aniruddha Baral, Ph.D. Candidate-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/01/15/student-research-spotlight-jan-2022/
FEBRUARY 2022: Jordan Ouellet, Tech, BEng, MASc, PhD Candidate, Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/02/26/student-research-spotlight-february-2022/
MARCH 2022: Sampath Kumar Pasupunuri, Ph.D. candidate, Pavement Engineering-School of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/03/31/student-research-spotlight-march-2022/
APRIL 2022: Anupam B R, Pursuing his doctorate-Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, India: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/04/15/student-research-spotlight-april-2022
MAY 2022: Andréia Posser Cargnin, Ph.D. Candidate, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/05/09/student-research-spotlight-may-2022/
JUNE 2022: Charles Donnelly, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/06/24/student-research-spotlight-june-2022/
JULY 2022: Amir Malakooti, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/07/30/student-research-spotlight-july-2022/
AUGUST 2022: Haoran Li, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/08/24/student-research-spotlight-august-2022/
SEPTEMBER 2022: Sumit Nandi, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Roorkee, India): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/09/18/student-research-spotlight-september-2022/
OCTOBER 2022: Eric Ribeiro da Silva, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/10/20/student-research-spotlight-october-2022/
NOVEMBER 2022: Zachary Brody, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/11/18/student-research-spotlight-november-2022/
DECEMBER 2022: Jesús Castro Pérez, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/12/17/student-research-spotlight-december-2022/
JANUARY 2023: Dan King, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/01/26/student-research-spotlight-january-2023/
FEBRUARY 2023: Kathryn Kennebeck, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/02/28/student-research-spotlight-february-2023/
MARCH 2023: Sinan Kefeli, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/03/13/student-research-spotlight-march-2023/
APRIL 2023: Niwesh Koirala, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas Tech University (Lubbock, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/04/07/student-research-spotlight-april-2023/
MAY 2023: Christian A. Sabillon, Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/05/05/student-research-spotlight-may-2023/
JUNE 2023: Saima Yaqoob, Ph.D. Candidate, KTH (the Royal Institutes of Technology) (Stockholm, Sweden): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/06/15/student-research-spotlight-june-2023/
JULY 2023: Ricardo Hungria, Ph.D. Candidate, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/07/11/student-research-spotlight-july-2023/
AUGUST 2023: Megan Darnell, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/08/07/student-research-spotlight-august-2023/
SEPTEMBER 2023: Jitendra Patel, Ph.D. Candidate, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna (Italy): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/09/05/student-research-spotlight-september-2023/
OCTOBER 2023: Omar K. Omar, Ph.D. Candidate, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/10/05/student-research-spotlight-october-2023/
NOVEMBER 2023: Mason Smetana, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/11/07/student-research-spotlight-november-2023/
DECEMBER 2023: Avinash Jha, M.Tech Student, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (India): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/12/10/student-research-spotlight-december-2023/