Geostatistical analysis of intelligent compaction measurements for asphalt pavement compaction

Although unable to address the issue of spatial uniformity, univariate statistics are commonly used to evaluate the compaction uniformity of asphalt layers nowadays. Intelligent compaction (IC) technology can provide the spatial IC measurement values (ICMV) with 100% coverage during compaction and offers an opportunity to perform the geostatistical analysis on the compacted asphalt layers. In this study, the construction quality of two typical asphalt pavement projects, including one new pavement construction project and one resurfacing construction project, were evaluated by performing geostatistical analysis for ICMV. Some critical issues regarding the use of geostatistical method for the evaluation of construction quality were also addressed by the case studies. The results from the geostatistical analyses show that IC technology can offer detailed information about spatial compaction uniformity. Upon comparison of the spatial uniformity between different layers, the semivariogram after the normal score transformation was suggested due to the measuring depths of the IC roller. The spatial statistics of ICMV could be adopted to monitor the changes in spatial uniformity during compaction. The factors affecting ICMV and geostatistical analysis were further discussed.