The light-weight deflectometer (LWD) has seen increased use in quality control and quality assurance testing. Pavement applications include general assessment of unbound layer stiffness and controlling the quality of compacted aggregate and soil layers. TRB hosted a webinar on Thursday, February 23, 2023 that will shared test set up, data analysis, and limitations of the LWD device. Presenters shared two case studies of conventional and non-conventional uses of LWDs and discuss any potential issues to ensure proper data collection and analysis.

This webinar is a follow on to the TRB Webinar: Ensuring Construction Quality Assurance with Light-Weight Deflectometers held on September 30, 2021.

This webinar is sponsored by TRB’s Standing Technical Committees on Mechanics and Drainage of Saturated and Unsaturated Geomaterials and Stabilization of Geomaterials and Recycled Materials.

The slides are linked in the meeting materials. View the recorded webinar below.

Webinar agenda and presenters

• Use of LWDs for quality control of backfill layers for airfield pavement repairs – Jami Lynn Rushing, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center

• Multi-year experience with use of LWD as a quality assurance device for compaction – Niosha Afsharikia, WSP

• Question and answer session moderated by William Carruth, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center

The first 30 minutes of the webinar was presentations and the final 25 minutes involved audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants were able to:

• Understand the light-weight deflectometer’s use as a quality assurance test device and conventional and non-conventional applications

• Identify best practices for test set up and data analysis with the light-weight deflectometer test device