ABSTRACT
This paper proposes an alternative to this established methodology based on stiffness testing. It uses immersion wheel tracking to simulate trafficking of a preconditioned test specimen. The Immersion Wheel Track test was developed in the United Kingdom during the 1950s to look at adhesion of asphalt materials. An asphalt test specimen is immersed in water at 40°C and tracked with a hard rubber tire. This was monitored for 48 hours or until the aggregate bitumen bond failed and / or the test specimen collapsed (Mathews & Colwill 1962). This initially caused rutting of the asphalt test sample. As water affected the aggregate bitumen bond it eventually collapsed.
