Evaluation of Pavement Friction Characteristics

This synthesis report will be of interest to pavement design, construction, management, and research engineers, highway safety officials, and others concerned with pavement friction characteristics. It describes the current state of the practice and discusses the methods used for evaluating wet pavement friction characteristics of new and restored pavements. This synthesis reviews models used for measuring and evaluating friction and texture, causes for friction changes over time, and aggregate and mix design to provide adequate friction. Also presented are construction and surface restoration practices for providing good pavement surface characteristics. In addition, considerations of noise and ride quality are discussed when compromise may be required.