Overview
The main objective of the project is proposing guidelines for the design of heavy duty pavements through selection of appropriate materials and building techniques. This is carried out by considering determinant factors affecting these surfaces' durability (traffic characteristics, properties of materials, climate effect, etc.).
The final purpose of this approach is implementation of the guideline and their integration into Swiss standards (SN 640 324, SN 640 430b and SN 640 461b).
The project focuses on the study of pavement structures that demonstrated a good performance (success stories) against heavy duty surfaces loads in order to investigate the reasons for their good mechanical behaviour through a back engineering process. The finite elements method will be used to explain the theoretical mechanical behaviour and identify the structures of critical zones.
The most promising structures will be built on the pilot test sites provided by the partner cities. The monitoring of test sites consists of the evaluation of mechanical behaviour of the instrumented structures under real traffic loads, and the survey of eventual surface distresses during the first 2 years of the pavements service life. The monitored results will be used for validation of the theoretical behaviour of the promising structures. Finally, practical guidelines will be provided for pavement designers and Swiss standards.