Towards a mechanistic structural design method for surface mine haul roads

摘要

The structural design of a pavement relates to the ability of the road to carry the imposed loads without the need for excessive maintenance or premature rehabilitation. The need to develop a practical structural design method for mine haul roads was identified. The aim of the paper is to develop a mechanistic structural design procedure. The current state of mine haul road structural design was assessed through the analysis and quantification of existing pavement structural performance. These pavements were then analysed mechanistically and, through a comparative analysis of the results, the associated limiting design criteria and optimal mechanistic design were deduced. Finally the benefits of the proposed mechanistic design method were verified by comparison with existing haul road designs.