ABSTRACT
Two widely used test methods to evaluate aggregate polish resistance are the British Pendulum Tester (BPT) for wet road surfaces, and the Polished Stone Value (PSV) laboratory test. Because there is doubt about the applicability of PSV for more heavily trafficked and difficult sites this paper re-evaluates historic data from these methods to address this question. A model is developed using a Polish Coefficient to quantify the polishing environment delivered by traffic and site geometry, as distinct from the laboratory determined aggregate property given by the PSV value. The Polish Coefficient provides new insight into the polishing process and enables the use of PSV as a predictive tool for the more heavily trafficked and difficult sites. It provides information on the Elasticity of Aggregate Performance and gives a plausible physical explanation for the mechanism involved in polishing. Alternative methods for dealing with these difficult sites are discussed and compared.
