Resources

Research into moisture in pavements in New Zealand started in 1979 and led to the instrumentation and monitoring of moisture in two sample pavements. The project recorded in this report was commissioned in 1995 to indicated the future directions that New Zealand research should take to evaluate moisture conditions in pavements.

Fundamental studies in New Zealand should not be commissioned until the results of long-term projects underway in the US become available.

These projects are researching the long-term effects of seasonal changes of moisture on the strength and performance of pavements.

Instead, research during pavement operations is recommended and should:

1. Determine the effects of a range of pavement parameters on the theoretical distribution of moisture in pavements by performing a sensitivity analysis to select suitable sites.
2. Monitor these sites for a year using the FWD (falling weight deflectometer) to estimate the changes in pavement strength occurring in New Zealand pavements during the seasons, and to relate the changes in strength with seasonal changes in moisture in pavements.

Keywords: moisture, New Zealand, pavements, research, roads