Strength analysis of a partially-flooded pavement using falling weight deflectometer test before and after maintenance.

Frequent flooding and wet weather events are the challenges for managing road infrastructure. In this study, falling weight deflectometer (FWD) equipment is employed to investigate the effect of moisture consequence of January 2011 flood at Queensland, Australia on a flooded road. The impacts of the flood on the structural strength were obtained for the whole section as well as different layers individually. These two sets of data provide a clear picture of the road condition as sound, severe or warning before and after the maintenance of the road. Furthermore, the moisture content of the spotted road at field condition providing the structural stiffness was obtained with a correlation of FWD data. These analysis and investigations play an essential role in optimizing the maintenance method for the roads suffering from the flood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]