VERIFICATION OF PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN . THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BEARING CAPACITY OF ROADS AND AIRFIELDS. PROCEEDINGS, NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, TRONDHEIM, NORWAY, JULY 3-5 1990. VOLUMES 1-2

This paper presents a verification study by the Hydraulic Engineering Division (DWW) of the Netherlands Public Works Department, to check the pavement thickness design method described in the DWW's Road Building Manual. The verification was conducted for sections of road with asphalt pavements on sand or on a granular base such as lava or crushed cement concrete. The study had the following two stages: (1) the collection of practical data, such as asphalt thickness, base thickness and traffic load, from about 100 sections of road used by traffic since 1978; (2) comparing the design method's predictions of structural performance and design life with the practical data. The provisional findings of the study show that the asphalt thicknesses, applied on the basis of the present DWW method for asphalt pavements, are sufficient. When the present design method was checked against observations of road sections in use, no road sections were found where the pavement showed structural damage within its design life. Although some road sections withstood a greater traffic load than their recommended line indicated, there is not yet sufficient evidence to justify the lowering of this line or to reduce the asphalt thickness for granular bases. (TRRL)