ConcretePavementDesign:93Guidevs.

theMEPDG
ThecurrentAmericanAssociationofStateHighwayandTransportationOfficials(AASHTO)
pavementdesignmanualGuidefortheDesignofPavementStructures(93Guide)is
basedondatacollectedduringaroadtestconductedinthelate1950sandiswidelyusedin
thedesignofnewandrehabilitatedhighwaypavements.Theroadtestwasaseriesof
experimentscarriedouttodeterminehowtrafficcontributedtothedeteriorationof
highwaypavements.Differentpavementstructureswereconstructedandthensubjectedto
repeatedloadingbyaspecificvehicletypeandweightsothattheinteractionofvehicleloads
andpavementstructurecouldbeinvestigated.

Theroadtestintroducedmanyconceptsinpavementengineering,includingtheload
equivalencyfactor,layercoefficients,StructuralNumbers,andtheequivalentsingleaxle
load(ESAL).Becausetheroadtestcouldnotpossiblyevaluateallthedifferentcombinations
ofroadwaymaterialsandsections,thedatacollectedisonlyapplicableunderthespecific
conditionsofthetestwithregardstothetime,place,environment,andmaterialproperties
presentduringthetest.Extrapolatingtheoriginaldatatodifferentsituationsandcurrent
pavementdesignconditionshasbeenextremelydifficultandoftenextremelyarbitrary.

Pavementengineersrealizedthatthelimitationsofthecurrent93Guidestemmeddirectly
fromthelimitationsoftheroadtestitself.Toaddressthisconcern,aneffortiscurrently
underwaybytheNationalCooperativeHighwayResearchProgramtodevelopanew
pavementdesignprocedurebaseduponmechanisticprinciples.Mechanisticpavement
designisbasicallyanapproachwhereamodelisusedtocalculatethereactionofa
pavementstructurewhensubjectedtotrafficloading.Thegreatestadvantageofthe
mechanisticdesignapproachisthatitwillallowforarapidanalysisoftheinfluenceof
changesinpavementmaterialsandtraffic.

Whenitcomestodesigningconcretepavements,theproposedAASHTOMechanistic
EmpiricalPavementDesignGuide,orMEPDGforshort,willofferpavementdesignengineers
greaterflexibilityoverthecurrent93Guide,intermsof:

Evaluatingtheeffectsofvariouspavementmaterials,trafficloadingconditions,
designfeatures,andconstructionpractices
Consideringbothlongterm(age)andshortterm(temperatureandmoisture)
changesinmaterialproperties
Providingmoreaccurateperformancepredictionssothatthefrequencyof
prematurefailureisreduced

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Improvingtheabilitytoevaluateprematurefailuresandthefactorscontributingto
exceptionallygoodperformance
Compilingdatabasesfortheupdatingofpavementdesigninputvaluesas
informationbecomesavailable

Thisincreasedawarenessofmaterialcapabilitiesandtheirshortcomingsshouldleadtothe
smarteruseofconstructionmaterialsandtheincreaseddurabilityofconcretepavements.
Theeconomicadvantageshouldresultinmoreconcretepavementsbeingselectedbyuser
agencies.However,theMEPDGdoeshaveitslimitationswhenitcomestoconcrete
pavementsincludingthefollowing:

Notapplicabletoconcreteoverlaysastheminimumallowablethicknessesaresix
inchesforjointedplainconcretepavement(JPCP)overlaysandseveninchesfor
continuouslyreinforcedconcretepavement(CRCP)
Jointspacingislimitedtoaminimumoftenfeetforconcreteoverlays
Jointedreinforcedconcretepavement(JRCP)sectionscannotbedesignedatall
28daysistheminimumtimeforopeningconcretesectionstotraffic
Providesanoptimummaximumconcretethicknessofabout13inches,abovewhich
thereislittlevaluerealized

WhiletheMEPDGaddressesallnew(includinglanereconstruction)andrehabilitationdesign
issues,andprovidesanequitabledesignbasisforallpavementtypes,manystateagencies
haveresistedadoptionbecauseofthecomplexityandthelackoflocalempiricaldatato
incorporateintotheMEPDG.Economizingconcretepavementsisnotdifficultbutdoes
requireathoroughunderstandingofthebenefitsandcostsofvariousdesignfeatures.