Structural Design and Sensitivity Analysis of Semi-Rigid Pavement of a Motorway

This paper presents application of mechanistic-empirical methods in design of semi-rigid pavement for a section of a motorway in Poland. The stage construction was assumed. Three fatigue criteria were applied in the design. For asphalt fatigue cracking and subgrade soil the criteria from the Asphalt Institute (USA) were applied. For fatigue cracking of cement stabilized bases the Dempsey (USA) and De Beer (South Africa) criteria were applied. Software BISAR was used. Additional study was carried out to find the sensitivity of design thickness of asphalt layer related to several design factors. The most significant factors were (a) load transfer through shrinkage and reflective cracks, (b) high summer temperature which causes decrease of asphalt layers stiffness and increase of tensile stresses in cement stabilized bases, and (c) the effect of overloaded vehicles