Perpetual Pavement Design

Canadian User Producer Group for Asphalt

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Nov. 16th 2008

John DAngelo
Federal Highway Administration
Washington, DC

Appian way in Italy

Experienced based design
Build it thick
Build it with durable materials
It will last

Pavement Design
In a modern world can we afford to over
design?
Limited resources
Limited money
High demand

How do we design for just the right

performance?

Fatigue Theory
High Strain = Short Life

Strain

Strain

Low Strain = Long Life

Fatigue Life

Fatigue Cracking
Repeated
Bending

Leads to
Fatigue Cracking

Fatigue Cracking
Repeated
Bending

Leads to
Fatigue Cracking

Traditional Fatigue Plot

Strain (Strain/1E6)

0.01

0.001

0.0001

0.00001
1.0E+0 1.0E+0 1.0E+0 1.0E+0 1.0E+1 1.0E+1 1.0E+1
2
4
6
8
0
2
4

Load Cycles to 50% Stiffness (Failure)

Fatigue Theory for

Thick Pavements
High Strain = Short Life

Strain

Low Strain = Unlimited Life

Strain

Unlimited
Fatigue
Life

70
Fatigue Life

70 Micro Strain Test

8000

Stiffness, Mpa

7000

6000

5000

4000
0.0E+00

5.0E+06

1.0E+07

1.5E+07

2.0E+07

2.5E+07

Number of Load Cycles

3.0E+07

3.5E+07

4.0E+07

FAILURE MODES

Eventual Distress

Goal of Perpetual Pavement Design

Design the structure such that there are no deep
structural distresses
Bottom up fatigue cracking
Structural rutting

All distresses can be quickly remedied from

surface
Result in a structure with Perpetual or Long
Life

Surface Distresses Only

Top Down Cracking

Non-Structural Rutting

Dynamic Modulus Test

Soil Modulus Testing

Dynamic Cone Penetration

Mass

Rod
Reference

FWD Testing

Traffic

Tire has a total load P, spread over a circular

area with a radius of a, resulting in a contact
pressure of p.

Pavement
Reactions
h1

Deflection ()
Tensile Strain (t)

Layer 1
HMA
E1
Layer 2
Granular Base
E2

h2
Compressive Strain (v)

Layer 3
Subgrade Soil
E3

No bottom boundary, assume soil goes on infinitely.

Figure 2. Layered Elastic Model Representation of a Pavement.

No
horizontal
boundary,
assume
layers
extend
infinitely.

Perpetual Pavement Design

Log

Threshold
Strain
Log N
No Damage Accumulation

French concept High modulus

high binder content base.
California concept- High strain
tolerance polymer asphalt base.
New approach- combine both with
stiff agg. base to reduce cost.

New Jersey I-287

Surface Cracking

Solution: Mill 4 and

Overlay with 5

Perpetual Pavement
Structure Lasts 50+ years.
Bottom-Up Design and Construction
Indefinite Fatigue Life

Renewable Pavement Surface.

High Rutting Resistance
Tailored for Specific Application

Consistent, Smooth and Safe Driving Surface.

Environmentally Friendly
Avoids Costly Reconstruction.

References