Role of Pavement Management Data in the Implementation of AASHTO's Pavement ME Design Methodology

The verification and potential re-calibration of the pavement distress models with agency-specific input and performance data is a recommended critical step in the implementation of AASHTO’s mechanistic-empirical (ME) pavement design methodology. Many agencies have sought to address the data needs to fulfill this step through their pavement management data repositories. Because a majority of the pavement management databases are focused on supporting network needs analysis, they capture pavement related data at a coarser resolution than is necessary to support design-level performance models. This has led to some confusion and mixed success with using pavement management data for local calibration. However, if treated carefully and in combination with other ancillary data, pavement management data can certainly be used to verify/calibrate the distress models contained the AASHTO Pavement ME Design software. This paper presents some of the essential considerations in reviewing and applying pavement management system data for ME design model calibration. The commentary is illustrated with some real world case studies and examples drawn from various successful local calibration efforts conducted in the United States using pavement management data such as those in Missouri, Colorado and Utah.