Perpetual Pavement Design

John DAngelo
Federal Highway Administration
Washington, DC
Canadian User Producer Group for Asphalt
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Nov. 16
th
2008
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 Life
High Strain = Short Life
Low Strain = Long Life
Fatigue Theory
Fatigue Cracking
Repeated
Bending
Leads to
Fatigue Cracking
Repeated
Bending
Leads to
Fatigue Cracking
Fatigue Cracking
0.00001
0.0001
0.001
0.01
1.0E+0
2
1.0E+0
4
1.0E+0
6
1.0E+0
8
1.0E+1
0
1.0E+1
2
1.0E+1
4
Load Cycles to 50% Stiffness (Failure)
S
t
r
a
i
n

(
S
t
r
a
i
n
/
1
E
6
)
?
Traditional Fatigue Plot
High Strain = Short Life
Low Strain = Unlimited Life
Unlimited
Fatigue
Life
Fatigue Life
Fatigue Theory for
Thick Pavements
70
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
0.0E+00 5.0E+06 1.0E+07 1.5E+07 2.0E+07 2.5E+07 3.0E+07 3.5E+07 4.0E+07
Number of Load Cycles
S
t
i
f
f
n
e
s
s
,

M
p
a
70 Micro Strain Test
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
Non-Structural Rutting
Top Down Cracking
Dynamic Modulus Test
Soil Modulus Testing
Dynamic Cone Penetration
Rod
Reference
Mass
FWD Testing
Traffic
Layer 1
HMA
E
1
Layer 2
Granular Base
E
2

Layer 3
Subgrade Soil
E
3

h
1

h
2

No bottom boundary, assume soil goes on infinitely.
No
horizontal
boundary,
assume
layers
extend
infinitely.
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
Deflection (d)
Tensile Strain (e
t
)
Compressive Strain (e
v
)
Figure 2. Layered Elastic Model Representation of a Pavement.
Perpetual Pavement Design
No Damage Accumulation
Log N
Log e
Threshold
Strain
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