| Title | Mechanistic-Empirical Design of Pavements: Past Development, Current Challenges and Future Prospects |
| Speaker | Dr. Kumares C. Sinha |
Dr. Kumares C. Sinha is the Edgar B. & Hedwig M. Olson Distinguished
Professor of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. He has been active in
teaching, research and practice for over four decades in transportation systems
engineering and management. He consults for the World Bank on
transportation and infrastructure issues. He currently serves on the
Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board and he is the
Editor-in- Chief Emeritus of the Journal of Transportation Engineering.
He had served on several Federal Advisory Committees. He is an Honorary
Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a Member of the
National Academy of Engineering.
The pavement design procedures, established in 1961 after the AASHO field experiment in the late
fifties, involved the use of empirical relationships between the thickness of the paving material and the
characteristics of the subgrade soil, traffic loading, and climate. They were subsequently updated in 1972,
1986, and then in 1993. In 2008, the AASHTO mechanistic-empirical pavement design (MEPD)
procedures were introduced that combined mechanistic methods with empirical lifecycle performance
data. Unlike the traditional design approach where inputs are used to produce the design requirements
for the pavement structure, the MEPD approach initially assumes, on a trial basis, the pavement
structure design given the traffic, climate, and subgrade inputs, and analyzes the structural performance
of the trial design. Efforts are underway to enhance the quality of performance models using SHRP
LTPP data so that the use of MEPD can be facilitated.This paper discusses the evolution of pavement
design procedures, the status of the use of MEPD in the US, its implementation challenges and their
resolution, and some future trends that could influence MEPD implementation.