A statistical evaluation of soil and climatic parameters affecting the change in pavement deflection during thawing of subgrades

This report analyzes the results of a field study previously reported by Scrivner et al. (1969) for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. These authors studied the seasonal pavement deflection characteristics of 24 test sites on roads in service in regions with freezing indexes ranging from 100 F-days to 2100 F-days. They used the Dynaflect cyclic pavement loading device to determine the pavement system response. Of specific interest to my analysis was the increased pavement deflection after freezing and thawing and the time to recovery of normal deflection characteristics. These characteristics were related to soil and climatic factors using statistical techniques. The most significant observations of this statistical analysis are: (1) that the freezing index is not a significant parameter in determining the percent increase in pavement deflection during thawing, and (2) that the recovery time is inversely proportional to the depth of freezing. As was expected, the most significant variable affecting the increase in pavement deflection was the frost susceptibility classification. This observation reinforces the necessity for careful selection of soil materials used in pavement systems.