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Sustainable Perpetual Asphalt Pavements and Comparative Analysis of Lifecycle Cost to Traditional 20-Year Pavement Design

Project Summary

Since 2001, the State of Texas has been designing and constructing Perpetual Pavements on heavily trafficked highways where the estimated 18 kip equivalent single axle loads (ESALs) exceed 30 million after a 20-year design period. Perpetual Pavements, also commonly known as full-depth asphalt pavements, are pavement structures designed not to have major structural rehabilitation or reconstruction work, but requiring only minor periodic surface renewals for at least 50 years. To date, there are 10 Perpetual Pavement sections in service within Texas. With the oldest section having a service life of over 12 years, there is an opportunity to review the existing Perpetual Pavement design and construction practices with a View of modifying the design procedures and recommending the best construction practices to meet current traffic demands. The concern regarding these Perpetual Pavements was cost; as it was suggested that they were excessively thick and that their multiple lifts of different mixes made Perpetual Pavements difficult and expensive to construct. A critical review of field performance is warranted with recommendations on how to make these pavements cost competitive with both conventional 20 years flexible pavements and rigid concrete pavements.

Project Number

0-6856

Status

Completed

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