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https://trb-annual-meeting.nationalacademies.org/registration

Assessment of Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical (PaveME) Design Software

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) released a new version of AASHTOWare® Pavement ME Design (PaveME) software in July 2022. PaveME is a design software that accompanies the AASHTO mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (PMEDG). In 2012, a user guide was developed for the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design. PaveME is used to calculate the stresses to pavements under specific roadway variables such as traffic, climate conditions, materials used, etc. This information is used to project the damage over time to and to determine the most cost-effective pavement designs and treatments for Arizona roadways. ADOT currently uses all of these tools in pavement design and analysis for evaluating new, reconstructed, and rehabilitated pavements. However, ADOT has been using AASHTO 1993 design methods as its primary approach and design tool, while using the AASHTO PaveME software for design validation. ADOT is interested in evaluating pre- and post-project pavement performance data for ADOT pavement designs. This study would examine recent and new ADOT construction projects and rehabilitation projects to verify the reliability, suitability, and acceptability of the results and recommendations provided by AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design 3.0 software for the performance of rigid and flexible pavements on Arizona’s roads. The project will have two phases. The first phase of the study will evaluate the predictive performance results from PaveME compared to the actual pavement performance results on past pavement rehabilitation projects. The second phase of the project will evaluate and develop updates to the calibration of PaveME for future pavement designs. However, Phase Two cannot be started until after Phase One has been completed and the results and recommendations are analyzed by ADOT and the research team and there is prior agreement to begin the next phase. The results from Phase One as well as practices from other states and industry will be used to develop best management practices for developing calibration recommendations and guidance for the application of PaveME for future pavement designs.