CLOSE OVERLAY

InTrans

Institute for Transportation

InTrans|Research|In-Progress

Review and Assessment of Existing Mixture Proportioning Guidance, Quality Control Methods, and Performance Models for Bituminous and Cement Stabilized Soils

Project Details
STATUS

In-Progress

START DATE

08/03/26

END DATE

02/03/28

FOCUS AREAS

Infrastructure

RESEARCH CENTERS InTrans, PROSPER
SPONSORS

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Researchers
Principal Investigator
Halil Ceylan

Director, PROSPER

Co-Principal Investigator
Sunghwan Kim

Associate Director, PROSPER

About the research

Stabilization of pavement foundation layers using bituminous and cementitious additives is a widely adopted practice for enhancing structural capacity, durability, and constructability of airfield and roadway pavements within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Despite their extensive use, current guidance related to mixture proportioning, construction quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA), and performance characterization of stabilized soils remain fragmented, overly complex in some cases, or insufficiently validated for modern mechanistic pavement design procedures. As DoD infrastructure continues to face increasing operational demands, heavier loads, and constrained maintenance windows, there is a critical need to ensure that existing guidance and models are technically sound, practical to implement, and aligned with performance-based design philosophies.

To address this need, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) would benefit from a comprehensive review and assessment of existing mixture proportioning guidance, field QC/QA methods, and performance models for bituminous and cement stabilized soils. This effort will establish a clear technical basis for validating current practices, identifying gaps, and developing simplified, reliable tools suitable for DoD pavement applications. Such an assessment is a necessary first step toward improving confidence in stabilized layer design, construction, and long-term performance within mechanistic pavement design frameworks.

The objectives of the research are to (1) review and validate existing mixture proportioning guidance for bituminous and cement stabilized soils used in DoD pavement applications, (2) identify and evaluate simple and effective field QC/QA test methods to verify the construction quality of stabilized pavement layers, and (3) identify and evaluate practical, physics-based performance models suitable for inclusion in mechanistic pavement design procedures.

TOP