Comprehensive real-time pavement operation support system using machine-to-machine communication

Hot Mixed Asphalt (HMA) is the preferred and dominant material for road construction in many countries. HMA is very sensitive to the construction process and, thus, it is important to closely monitor the construction processes. Several Pavement Operation Support Systems (POSSs) have emerged in recent years. These systems try to provide guidance to the operators of pavers and rollers. While effective, such systems cannot do justice in capturing the complex interdependencies between the project-specific context (e.g. ambient conditions, temperature of laid asphalt) and optimal operational strategies. Also, the existing real-time POSSs tend to perceive compaction and paving as separate operations. This research presents a comprehensive real-time POSS that uses machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and sensor network (GPS, temperature linescanner, thermologger) to adopt a holistic view of fleet and better assist the paver and roller operators in achieving a higher asphalt quality. In this system a novel method to obtain the temperature of the asphalt mat is developed that is based on a combination of measured surface and core temperatures of the laid asphalt layer. A prototype of the proposed POSS is developed and tested in a field experiment. The test results show that the proposed system can help provide operators with a deeper insight into their projects. By assisting the operators in developing better operational strategies and preventing over-, under-, and poor compaction, this system is found to contribute to enhancing process quality as well as the quality of the end-product.