Development of a User-Friendly Design Manual for Implementation of Mechanistic Design of Pavements in Oklahoma

A durable and sustainable pavement infrastructure is essential for Oklahoma's mobility and economic vitality. Properly designed pavements ensure safety, durability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental stewardship. Although the AASHTO 1993/1986 Pavement Design method has served as a cornerstone for pavement design for many years, its empirical nature has limited its use and raised the demand for more mechanistic methods that account for innovative materials, advanced construction, varying climatic conditions, and changes in vehicular traffic loading and configurations. The Mechanistic-Empirical method, developed under NCHRP 1-37A, offers several notable improvements over the AASHTO 1993/1986 pavement design methods. Many state Departments of Transportation including Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT), are planning to transition to this method using the Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Design (Pavement ME) software. However, the lack of a design manual for the use of Pavement ME has resulted in confusion and inconsistent designs among the design firms in Oklahoma. Consequently, ODOT has recently moved to using only AASHTO 1993/1986 design for its pavement construction projects. The agency has indicated needs for the development of a user-friendly Pavement ME design manual for ODOT that can be used by the pavement design firms in Oklahoma as well as by the ODOT pavement design engineers and produce consistent and high-quality designs. In the proposed collaborative project with industry, the team seeks to develop a user-friendly manual for the Pavement ME software. Over the years, ODOT has funded several research projects on Pavement ME. The findings of these research projects will be used as a basis to develop the proposed Pavement ME design manual. The research team seeks to engage the ODOT Roadway Design Division and the Materials Division in pursuing this project so that the developed manual can be readily used by the agency and by the design firms serving ODOT’s needs upon completion of this project. Also, a database for Oklahoma-specific input parameters will be developed to assist ODOT and its stakeholders. Further, a hands-on training session will be organized to familiarize the stakeholders with the design manual. The research team has worked closely with the ODOT personnel in developing this research idea. In view of Colorado DOT experience, involvement of Geocal as a consultant adds significant strength and reduces development time.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $60,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348306 (CY3-OU-02)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Southern Plains Transportation Center

  University of Oklahoma
  202 W Boyd St, Room 213A
  Norman, OK  United States  73019

  Oklahoma Department of Transportation

  200 NE 21st Street
  Oklahoma City, OK  United States  73105
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Oklahoma, Norman

  School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
  202 West Boyd Street, Room 334
  Norman, OK  United States  73019
• Project Managers:

  Ghasemi, Hamid

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Oklahoma, Norman

  School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
  202 West Boyd Street, Room 334
  Norman, OK  United States  73019
• Principal Investigators:

  Ashik Ali, Syed

  Zaman, Musharraf

  Ghos, Sagar

  Hossain, Nur

• Start Date: 20260101
• Expected Completion Date: 20270101
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: UTC

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Implementation; Manuals; Mechanistic-empirical pavement design
• Identifier Terms: AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (Software)
• Geographic Terms: Oklahoma
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01975694
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Southern Plains Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348306 (CY3-OU-02)
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 5 2026 11:18PM