Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Workshop

							                 Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Workshop
                               State of the Practice
             87th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
                                  Workshop #159
                             Sunday January 13, 2008
                                1:30 pm to 5:00 pm

In 2006, TRB committee AFD60 (Flexible Pavement Design) started preparations for a
workshop related to mechanistic-empirical pavement design. The committee recognized
the fact many highway agencies have initiated or completed implementation activities
related to the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The
committee believed it would be beneficial for those lead agencies to present their efforts
and results to the pavement engineering community. Therefore, the first purpose of this
workshop was to invite presentations to discuss local calibration and state
implementation efforts. The presentations related to MEPDG implementation are titled
Pres_1, Pres_2 and Pres_3.

Secondly, the committee recognized the fact several highway agencies in the United
States and around the world have already implemented a mechanistic-empirical based
pavement design system. Some of these agencies may migrate to the new MEPDG;
however, some may decide to enhance their current system. In either instance, the
committee felt presentations on the lessons learned from agencies in their implementation
process would assist other highway agencies in their planning process. The presentations
related to mechanistic-empirical pavement design by highway agencies are titled Pres_4,
Pres_5 and Pres_6.

Finally, with the focus moving from research to implementation and design activities, a
production ready software tool is needed to use the MEPDG. As a result of the NCHRP
1-37A and 1-40 projects, a research software tool was developed and provided to
NCHRP. Commonly referred to as Version 1, this tool was intended to support research
efforts – not for production level pavement design. As such, AASHTO has established a
task force with the charge of moving the Version 1 software to a DARWin-ME pavement
analysis and design software product. The workshop planners felt a presentation on the
efforts and plans of the task force was necessary. This presentation is titled Pres_7.

By posting these presentations on the internet, AFD60 and the presenters hope they will
assist their colleagues. If you have questions pertaining to the presentations, please
contact Trenton Clark at Trenton.clark@vdot.virginia.gov.