PURPOSES: The objective of this study is to evaluate the structural capacity of asphalt pavement in subsurface cavity sections using falling weight deflectometer (FWD) backcalculation method. METHODS: It is necessary to analyze the reduction of structural capacity in asphalt pavements due to the occurrence of subsurface cavities. The FWD testing was conducted on the cavity and intact asphalt pavement in the city of Seoul. The GAPAVE, backcalculation program for FWD deflections, was utilized to determine the layer moduli in asphalt pavements. The remaining life of asphalt pavements in cavity sections were predicted using the pavement performance model for fatigue cracking. The backcalculated layer moduli between cavity and intact sections were compared to determine the reduction of structural capacity due to subsurface cavity. The relationship between the reduction of layer modulus and cavity depth/length was analyzed to estimate the effect of cavity characteristics on the structural capacity degradation. RESULTS: According to the FWD backcalculation results, the modulus of asphalt layer, subbase, and subgrade in cavity sections are generally lower than those in intact sections. In the case of asphalt layers, the backcalculated modulus in cavity section was reduced by 50% compared to intact section. A study for the prediction of remaining life of cavity section shows that the occurrence of subsurface cavity induces the decrease of the pavement life significantly. It is found that there is no close relationship between the backcalculated modulus and cavity length. However, the reduction of asphalt layer modulus is highly correlated with the cavity depth and was found to increase with the decrease of cavity depth. CONCLUSIONS : This reduction of structural capacity due to the occurrence of cavities underneath asphalt pavements was determined using FWD backcalculation analysis. In the future, this approach will be utilized to establish the criteria of road collapse risk and predict the remaining life of cavity sections under numerous varied conditions.

PURPOSES: The purpose of this study is to evaluate and improve the potential risk of road cave-ins due to subsurface cavities based on the deflection ratio measured with light falling weight deflectometer (LFWD) tests. METHODS : A cavity database for Seoul was developed and sorted. LFWD tests based on the database were conducted on pavement sections with and without road cavities detected by ground-penetrating radar (GPR) tests; after excavating the area, the cavity sizes were measured. The deflection ratio was applied and analyzed by cavity management grade methods of Japan and Seoul. RESULTS : The results of comparative analysis show that the deflection method can detect road cavities in areas of the narrow road (or in narrow areas of the road). The average deflection ratio of the cavity sections to the robust sections were 2.48 for high-risk cavities, 1.85 for medium-risk level cavities, and 1.49 for low-risk cavities. Risk levels in Japan and Seoul were reclassified according to the deflection ratios. CONCLUSIONS : LFWD test results can be applied to verify and improve the subsurface cavity risk level by comparing maximum deflection and deflection ratio between cavity area and non-cavity area at the loading center. LFWD devices also have more advantages compared with larger NDT(Nondestructive test) because FWD and GPR encounter difficulties in traffic control and they could not get in a narrow roads.

PURPOSES: The objective of this study was to develop an asphalt pavement response model for a subsurface cavity section using the 3D finite element method and a statistical approach. METHODS: It is necessary to analyze the structural behavior of asphalt pavement with a subsurface cavity to evaluate the degree of risk for a road cave-in. A 3D finite element model was developed to simulate the subsurface cavity underneath asphalt pavement and was verified using the ILLIPAVE program. Finite element analysis was conducted for asphalt pavement sections with different asphalt layer thickness/modulus, and cavity depth and length, to generate the artificial pavement response database. The critical pavement response considered in this study was the tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer because fatigue cracking is the main cause of road cave-in. The relationship between the critical pavement response and influencing factors was investigated using the pavement response database. The statistical regression approach was adopted to develop the asphalt pavement response model for predicting the critical pavement response of asphalt pavement with a subsurface cavity. RESULTS : It was found from the sensitivity analysis that the asphalt layer thickness or modulus, and cavity depth or length, are the major factors affecting road cave-in incidents involving asphalt pavement. The asphalt pavement response model showed high accuracy in predicting the tensile strain at the bottom of asphalt layer. It was found from the verification study that the R square value between finite element model and pavement response model were 0.969 and 0.978 in the cavity and intact sections, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The work reported in this paper was intended to figure out the pavement structural behavior and to develop a pavement response model for the occurrence of cavities underneath asphalt pavement using 3D finite element analysis. In the future, critical pavement response will be utilized to establish the criteria of risk of road cave-in based on various different conditions.

Ground depression/cave-ins due to subsurface cavities have been occasionally occurred in urban area. To prevent the ground cave-ins, a ground penetrating radar (GPR) method was applied and more than 2,000 subsurface cavities were found in Seoul. For each cavity, excavation was carried out to investigate main cause of the cavity and then the site was restored permanently. It was found that this excavation-and-restoration method was not efficient to repair small size cavities. Instead, grouting methods was used to repair the small cavities temporarily. This study evaluated the field applicability of grouting methods on restoring small cavities. Three types of grouting materials were applied on 12 sections and two non-destructive tests were conducted in field. A falling weight deflectometer(FWD) test was conducted to assess the bearing capacity of the site before and after grouting. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) was used to evaluate the extent of the grouting materials to a cavity. From the FWD test results, the bearing capacity of the Section A and B was enhanced by 7.5% and 13.5% while the bearing capacity of the section C was reduced by 11.5%. It was found from the GPR tests that the grouting materials used in the Section B and C could fill the cavity well and also extended to surrounded area due to injection pressure or selfexpansion. In common, the small cavities could be restored quickly, less than 30 minutes per a cavity by the grouting methods. Hence it can be concluded that the grouting methods can be applicable to restore small cavities. However, it needs to consider the application of grouting methods carefully because the grouting methods can be lost through a pipe link to a cavity. Also, excavations can be conducted occasionally in urban roads so that the stiffness of grouting materials needs to soft enough to be excavated and strong enough to support traffic loads.

Recently, road cave-in and depression in urban area due to subsurface cavity are emerging as a social issue in Korea. These phenomena enable to cause not only damage to human lives and properties, but also an anxiety of the citizens. Furthermore, it is a problem that needs more fundamental solution to countermeasure. The objective of this study is to evaluate the stiffness characteristics of asphalt pavement with existence of subsurface cavity using Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) deflection and backcalculation analysis using GAPAVE program developed the KICT. The characteristics of FWD deflections are analysed for cavity and intact asphalt pavements. The stiffness reduction in the asphalt pavement due to subsurface cavity was evaluated as a result of this FWD test. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has conducted a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) test, coring, and image photographing in four different locations to determine the presence of the cavity and figure out the cavity depth and size underneath asphalt pavements. The cavity depths measured in this section range between 17cm to 51cm, and its lengths are at least 70cm to up to 310cm. It is found from this analysis that the deflections measured from cavity section are generally higher than intact section in same locations. As results of backcalculation analysis, it appears that the backcalculated moduli are generally decreasing with increase of cavity depth. After comparing with AC moduli obtained from intact and cavity section, it is observed that about 80% of moduli was reduced with existence of subsurface.

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential risk level of road cave-ins due to subsurface cavities based on the deflection basin measured with falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests. METHODS: Ground penetrating radar (GPR) tests were conducted to detect road cavities. Then FWD tests were conducted on 13 pavement test sections with and without a cavity. FWD deflections and a deflection ratio was used to evaluate the effect of geometry of the cavity and pavement for road cave-in potentials. RESULTS: FWD deflection of cavity sections measured at 60 cm or a closer offset distance to a loading center were 50% greater than more robust sections. The average deflection ratio of the cavity sections to robust sections were 1.78 for high risk level cavities, 1.51 for medium risk level cavities, and 1.16 for low risk level cavities. The relative remaining service life of pavement with a cavity evaluated with an surface curvature index (SCI) was 8.1% for the high level, 21.8% for the medium level, and 89.8% compared to pavement without a cavity. CONCLUSIONS : FWD tests can be applied to detect a subsurface cavity by comparing FWD deflections with and without a cavity measured at 60 cm or a closer offset distance to loading center. In addition, the relative remaining service life of cavity sections based on the SCI can used to evaluate road cave-in potentials.