Calibration of the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design Performance Models for Flexible Pavements in Idaho

This project aims at developing local calibration factors for the AASHTOWare Pavement Mechanistic-Empirical Design (PMED) software. The performance models included in the software as released by AASHTO are calibrated from national Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) pavement sites. Hence, the models calibration factors represent averages of national sites across the nation. For specific local conditions, the performance predicted by the models may deviate from the actual performance observed in the pavements due to varied material, climate, traffic, and site conditions. Therefore, the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), in its efforts to implement the new AASHTO pavement design software, launched series of research projects to prepare the required design inputs including materials, traffic and climatic data as required by the new PMED. To calibrate the software for more accurate perdition of asphalt pavement performance in Idaho, local calibration of the models was needed. In this project, researchers of the University of Idaho in cooperation with ITD engineers, identified 32 pavement sites across the state. The sites are selected to represent different geographical, climate and traffic conditions that are mostly prevailing in the state road network. Structural, material and traffic data for all these pavement sites were accumulated and prepared in accordance to the PMED software inputs. Actual performance data were collected from ITD Transportation Asset Management System (TAMS) and from ITD video logs of the selected pavements. The performance predicted by the software was then compared to the actual performance observed in the field as recorded in TAMS over the pavement service lives. With massive amount of software runs and statistical analysis of the results, local calibration factors are developed to represent the best case scenario for performance prediction of asphalt pavements in Idaho. The developed factors were validated using additional nine LTPP sites in Idaho. Furthermore, as part of this project, material testing was performed to populate the ITD material database with creep compliance and indirect tensile properties at low temperatures that were missing in the database. An updated and completed ITD database is developed as well. The information in the database is stored in formats that make it easily accessible and usable by the PMED software.

• Record URL:
  https://apps.itd.idaho.gov/apps/research/Completed/RP235.pdf
• 

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $370,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  RP 235

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Idaho Transportation Department

  P.O. Box 7129, 3311 West State Street
  Boise, ID  United States  83707-1129
• Project Managers:

  Santi, Mike

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Idaho, Moscow

  Office of Sponsored ProgramsNational Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
  P.O. Box 443020
  Moscow, ID  United States  83844-3020
• Principal Investigators:

  Bayomy, Fouad

• Start Date: 20150501
• Expected Completion Date: 20180430
• Actual Completion Date: 20180630
• Source Data: RiP Project 36445

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calibration; Flexible pavements; Pavement design; Pavement performance; Software packages
• Identifier Terms: Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide
• Geographic Terms: Idaho
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements; I30: Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01560827
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Idaho Transportation Department
• Contract Numbers: RP 235
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 23 2015 1:00AM