In Situ Measurement and Empirical Modeling of Base Infiltration in Highway Pavement Systems

Free-drainage lysimeters, commonly used in agriculture to monitor evapotranspiration and solute transport, were installed at three highway test sites in Tennessee. The lysimeters were installed below flexible pavement systems just beneath the coarse-graded asphalt stabilized base. The lysimeters collect water infiltrating the unbound aggregate (stone base) and monitor the quantity of infiltration by diverting the flow into tipping bucket rain gauges. One test site indicated infiltration beneath the longitudinal joint in the first several months of monitoring. A second test site, where the dense surface layer was not in place, indicated infiltration correlating with rainfall. Data from this site were used to develop a model to predict the measured infiltration based on the recorded rainfall. The monitoring method and modeling approach may be applicable in the investigation of pavement permeability, drainage system efficiency, and the role of infiltration in the seasonal variation of water content of unbound pavement layers.