EXPERIENCES IN THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE CALIBRATION OF THE AASHTO MECHANISTIC-EMPIRICAL PAVEMENT DESIGN GUIDE (MEPDG) FOR FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT FOR COSTA RICA

摘要

The AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) includes empiricaldistress models that have been calibrated based on North American conditions. However, thedifferences of material properties, traffic information, and environmental conditions for LatinAmerican countries make necessary to calibrate these models using local conditions.This paper presents an overview of Costa Rica’s experience in the characterization ofmaterials used in the calibration of the flexible pavement components of the AASHTO MEPDGperformed by the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models at the University ofCosta Rica (In Spanish, LanammeUCR). First, the paper deals with the importance of usingmechanistic-empirical (ME) analysis and design models, as opposed to the purely empiricalmodels that have been traditionally used in Latin America and the world. In second place, itdiscusses the dynamic modulus (E*) model developed to assess the improvement in accuracybased on local materials (Witczak-Lanamme Model). Finally, this gives rise to future work incalibration of other performance models. This paper can also serve highway agencies as a guideto identify potential problems in their MEPDG implementations.