Updating the pavement design methodology presents two opportunities: firstly, it makes modern analytical methods available to designers, and secondly, it takes into account the greater level of detail available about material performance characteristics. Using this updated methodology will reduce material consumption and carbon impact of designing new roads and repairing existing ones.
Building on the ‘layers-based’ approach to infrastructure design, which focuses on the inter-connectedness of an asset’s elements, the new design method developed by TII and Arup looks in detail at choosing the correct materials for road design by taking a performance-based approach. This enables the assessment and use of new and innovative materials, allows designers to specify and use only the necessary amount of each relevant material for specific road conditions and contexts, and creates the opportunity to design for reuse.
The result is a significant reduction in construction waste and cost, and, ultimately, carbon footprint of roads.
Materials data is inputted to TII’s web-based software, allowing for iterative design testing and helping designers to consider multiple impact factors. These take into account material performance characteristics, as well as other critical factors such as traffic load patterns, pavement structure and layer thickness, environmental and ground conditions and performance risk. Having a digital record of the materials used in all road designs will help TII to improve monitoring, optimise costs and predict maintenance requirements.