A mechanistic empirical approach for the evaluation of the structural capacity and remaining service life of flexible pavements at the network level

Abstract

Road asset managers need to utilize reliable indicators for the structural condition and remaining service life at the network level to make rational decisions of the required funding and the optimum strategies for maintenance and rehabilitation. The surface deflection bowls and pavement critical responses were generated by computer simulations for a total of 2880 flexible pavement sections. The normalized area was computed from the deflection bowl data and it was found to be very well correlated with the compressive strain at the top of the subgrade. While the pavement surface curvature and area under pavement profile were highly correlated with the tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer. Thus, these parameters were used to evaluate the remaining service life in rutting and fatigue. Field data showed an excellent match between the trends obtained from the field and computer simulated data.