Implementing the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (TR-509)

Principal Investigator:

Brian Coree, bcoree@iastate.edu (other projects)

Co-Principal Investigator:

• Halil Ceylan, hceylan@iastate.edu (other projects)
• Dale Harrington (other projects)

Student Researchers:

• Alper Guclu
• Sung Hwan Kim, sunghwan@iastate.edu

Other Authors: Alper Guclu, Sunghwan Kim, and Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan

Project Status: In Progress

Start Date: 11/01/2003
End Date: 06/30/2005

Reports:

• 06/30/2005, http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/reports/mepdg_implementation.pdf 1.3 mb (*pdf)
• 06/30/2005, http://www.ctre.iastate.edu/reports/mepdg_technical.pdf 4.7 mb (*pdf)

Related Publications:

• Implementing the M-E Pavement Design Guide in Iowa, Tech transfer summary, 05/01/2005

Research Objective: The current 1993 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Pavement Design Guide is based on the empirical interpretation of the results of the 1960 AASHTO Road Test. With the release of the new Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) Pavement Design Guide, pavement design has taken a “quantum” leap forward.

Implementation Plan:
In order to effectively and efficiently transition to the M-E Pavement Design Guide, state DOTs need a detailed implementation and training strategy. This document is a plan for the M-E Pavement Design Guide to be implemented in Iowa.

Technical Report:
This report seeks to outline the technical aspects of the new MEPDG. Full detail is essentially impossible and impractical, since the release of the MEPDG was accompanied by eighteen volumes of technical justification and background. Consequently, this report seeks only to provide a potential user with a practical understanding of the workings of the new guide, with only sufficient technical depth to aid in understanding.

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