Multi-Year Field Evaluation of Friction, Acoustic Aging, and Permeability Across Diverse Asphalt Pavement Systems

Urban expressways increasingly struggle with declining skid resistance and rising tire–pavement noise as asphalt surfaces age, yet few studies integrate friction, acoustic behavior, and permeability over multiple pavement types and service years. This research provides the first multi-year, multi-indicator field evaluation of four widely used surface systems in Korea (double-layer drainage asphalt, thin-layer low-noise overlays, SMA, and WC-6) linking wet-skid resistance (BPN), rolling friction (GN), acoustic metrics (LAeq, LAFmax), density evolution, and field permeability (Q) into a single performance framework. A three-year dataset from 2021–2024 (n = 20 sites) revealed that wheelpath friction deteriorated steadily at −1.77 BPN/year, with WC-6 exhibiting the fastest decline (≈−5.5 BPN/year) and drainage asphalt the slowest (≈–2.5 BPN/year). Predicted wheelpath service lives spanned 3.8–5.7 years across pavement types. Acoustic monitoring showed a consistent hierarchy (Drainage < Thin-Layer < SMA < WC-6), with WC-6 producing up to 20 dB higher LAFmax due to strong air-pumping effects. Permeability trends mirrored acoustic behavior, with Q decreasing 9–18% over 3 years but maintaining clear ranking: Drainage > Thin-Layer > SMA > WC-6. SMA NMAS analysis further showed that SMA-10 mm delivers higher initial friction but deteriorates faster than SMA-8 mm. Correlation analysis demonstrated that permeability governs both friction and noise (Q vs. LAeq: r = −0.84; Q vs. GN: r = +0.81), confirming the dominant mechanistic role of void connectivity. Collectively, the findings provide quantitative evidence that drainage and thin-layer systems deliver the most balanced long-term performance across safety, noise, and hydraulic functionality, offering practical guidance for pavement selection on noise-sensitive expressways.