Design aids for portland cement concrete pavements

This study presents the development of a software application for the design of rigid pavements using AASHTO method of design. The research focused on rigid pavement because of its pervasive use on account of its lower maintenance requirements and less susceptibility to weathering. The software was used in performing sensitivity tests, which determined the performing variables in the computation of the design depth of rigid pavement. All variables prove to be sensitive to the design depth except for variables So and K. A module on the local design procedure was also developed to aid local engineers produce more accurate design results. With this a comparison between the two procedures was made. It was then found that the local procedure is mainly dependent on the designer\u27s judgment making the accuracy and efficiency of the design very dependent on the designer\u27s experience. The program developed in this study is a timely, economical and accurate solution to the tiresome work of manual computations of the AASHTO design procedure. This study would benefit not only highway and transportation engineers but also students engaged in the study of pavement design