An Appraisal of Hydroplaning Pavement Surface Improvement Materials and Assessment Models

Wet pavement has always been a significant safety concern due to the rise in wet weather accidents. Each year, 70% of weather-related crashes happen on wet roads and 46% occur during precipitation. The reduced skid resistance and hydroplaning are two major challenges occurring in the wet pavement due to lack of surface friction. Curves, highways, intersections, single carriageway pathways, and four or higher-lane roads are more likely to experience hydroplaning and wet weather-related crashes. Previous studies suggest that the wet weather accident rate could be reduced by up to 70% by improving friction. This paper reviews the effectiveness of surface improvement materials, e.g., superhydrophobic materials, groove-filled pavement, etc. presented in recent papers to reduce the water film thickness and achieve suitable pavement friction properties. Previous review papers discuss the traditional empirical hydroplaning assessment models, such as the PAVDRN model, Gallaway model, etc., while few studies review the numerical models. In this paper, the traditional empirical and numerical models along with newly proposed hydroplaning models are discussed with references.