DESIGNING AND MAINTAINING HEAVY DUTY ASPHALT PAVEMENTS

The rapid increase in heavy traffic numbers and axle loads has led to an increased demand for pavements which are able to withstand such a harsh operating environment for up to 40 years. The paper looks at the design and maintenance of heavy duty asphalt pavements capable of providing the required service. A possible pavement structure intended for use in the Queensland Pacific Motorway Project is used to explore the use of preventative maintenance to extend the life of the pavement structure and increase residual value. The use of inconsistent reliability factors with different types of heavy-duty pavements is questioned and the recommendation made that a common factor of 2 should be applied to both asphalt and concrete heavy-duty pavements. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract no. 895118.