Characterization of underlying layer stabilization material for mechanistic-empirical design of rigid pavements

Abstract

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) is applied to calculate pavement responses against the cumulative damage over time, taking into account the general properties of materials, traffic, environmental conditions and pavement structure. The procedure described in the guide was used in this paper to provide appropriate design alternatives for the existing conditions. The two most common types of rigid pavements for highways, Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) and Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP) were considered in the design. The base layer material was chosen in such a way that a reasonable design life and distress level can be obtained. For each type of chemical stabilization techniques of the underlying layers, the satisfactory design cases were proposed based on the M-E design procedure. For CRCP, the results were also compared with those obtained from the procedure suggested by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) pavement design manual.