Proceedings of the XIV International Conference on Infrastructure

Held by The Engineering and Construction Institute (ICG) - Lima, Peru - from 21 to 22 august 2015

INTELLIGENT COMPACTION SYSTEM FOR EMBANKMENTS IN

HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION: OPPORTUNITIES AND
IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES (In Spanish)
Brahian Romn Cabrera1
ABSTRACT
Compaction tasks in asphalt paving construction are very important, since they have a
great impact on the long-term pavement behavior. Each of all pavements layers must
comply with a minimum level of compaction to assure a good performance. Currently,
vibratory rollers are used to achieve such levels of compaction in cohesionless soils and
the respective quality control is carried out after finishing the activities. However, such
quality control method led to uncertainties because the actual level of compaction
cannot be known during the execution stage which led to probably failures of the
pavement structure and low productivity due to reworks. A technological solution to
this problem is Intelligent Compaction (IC) which is based on measuring -through
sensors- the stiffness of the layers being compacted (similar to the Plate Load Test) and
immediately estimates the level of compaction through empiric correlations
depending on the type of soil. Hence, this system allows figuring out on real time
whether or not the construction activities are complying with the standards, so that
any defects can be fixed as they arise reducing as a consequence the amount of
rework. The IC system is an emerging technology widely used in developed countries,
but in Peru is not well known which represents an opportunity to improve the quality
and reduce costs in asphalt paving construction. Nevertheless, as any other foreign
technology, it is necessary to adequate it to Perus own conditions which brings many
technical and organizational challenges. This paper summarizes improvement
opportunities and technical challenges when implementing the system IC in the
construction of base and sub base layers for asphalt pavements. Findings indicate that
the most difficult challenge is the estimation of initial parameters such as a reliable
correlation between the level of compaction and the soils stiffness, and the most
suitable rollers vibratory frequency and speed in terms of the layers material and
thickness. Guidelines for an adequate Quality Control and Assurance (QA and QC) by
using the IC system are also provided.
KEY WORDS
Intelligent Compaction, Innovation, Paving, Cohensionless Soils

Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. National University of Engineering. Lima, Peru