ABSTRACT
Weather and climate attributes affect the pavement thickness design due to changes in seasonal layer resilient modulus values and condition deterioration progression. This paper presents the results of a sensitivity analysis of selected mechanistic-empirical pavement design methods using temperature and precipitation impacts on seasonal modulus values of an asphalt highway section considering several years of climate and extreme weather data. The results show significant variations in calculated asphalt overlay thicknesses for the same future traffic applications. The results of a comprehensive evaluation of several modulus backcalculation software are presented using the linearly static analysis of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) deflection test data for an asphalt highway section, which were extracted from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database. Additionally, some results are presented using the modulus predictive equations, which were developed using the three dimensional-finite element (3D-FE) simulations of FWD load-time history. It is shown that the thickness design of longer lasting pavement performance depends on correct layer modulus values considering extreme weather and climate attributes.
