ESTIMATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND TRAFFIC LOADING EFFECTS ON HIGHWAY PAVEMENTS.

Abstract

This paper describes the concept of a methodology for assessing quantitatively the relative effects of environmental and traffic loading on pavement performance. The proposed methodology relies upon pavement performance data which are now available in many highway agencies. It includes a procedure to incorporate the effect of routine maintenance on pavement performance in the analysis. A case study is presented as an example of application of the methodology. By analyzing 75 highway routes in Indiana, the case study serves to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed procedure as a tool for estimating environmental and traffic loading effects on pavement performance at both project and network levels.