Proposed Enhancements to Pavement ME Design: Improved Consideration of the Influence of Subgrade Soils Susceptible to Shrink/Swell and/or Frost Heave on Pavement Performance

Expansive clay soils that are susceptible to shrink and swell, and silty soils that are susceptible to frost heave are found in many parts of the United States. At these locations, these soils serve as the subgrade of the pavement structure. The AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (formerly DARWin-ME) and the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide Manual of Practice (MEPDG) (see Special Note A) provide a methodology for the analysis and performance prediction of new and rehabilitated pavements. Although the performance of these pavements is known to be closely related to properties of the subgrade, the performance predicted by this methodology does not adequately consider the influence of subgrade soils susceptible to shrink/swell and/or frost heave on pavement performance. There is a need to evaluate the procedures contained in the Pavement ME Design and identify or develop enhancements (in the form of modified or new models) to ensure that the procedures appropriately account for the influence of these types of subgrade soils on the performance of new and rehabilitated pavements. Incorporating these enhancements into the Pavement ME Design procedures will allow an improved analysis and design of pavement structures. The objective of this research is to propose enhancements, as needed, to the Pavement ME Design procedures to better reflect the influence of subgrade soils susceptible to shrink/swell and/or frost heave on pavement performance. These enhancements shall include modifications of the models contained in the Pavement ME Design and/or the development of new models. The research shall address all new and rehabilitated pavement types included in Pavement ME Design.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4349

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 01-59

• Sponsor Organizations:

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators

  4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 400
  Arlington, VA  United States  22203

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Project Managers:

  McKenney, Christopher

• Performing Organizations:

  Arizona State University, Tempe

  Tempe, AZ  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Zapata, Claudia

• Start Date: 20180815
• Expected Completion Date: 20230901
• Actual Completion Date: 20230901
• Source Data: RiP Project 41592

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Expansive clays; Frost heaving soils; Mechanistic design; Pavement design; Pavement performance; Ride quality; Roughness; Shrinkage; Subgrade (Pavements); Swelling soils
• Identifier Terms: Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide
• Subject Areas: Design; Geotechnology; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01634641
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 01-59
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: May 12 2017 9:46AM