Calibration of me design using a combination of APT and PMS data

Abstract

The ultimate goal of ME design, and much of the pavement engineering behind it, such as APT, is to provide true estimates of how pavements will perform in the field. In the past, most design methods have been calibrated with APT data, and there has been some difficultly in calibrating to field data, including LTPP data. While this is partly due to a lack of understanding of the performance of pavements, much of the difficultly seems to arise because there is a disconnect between how performance is explained in design methods and how it is measured in the field. This paper details a framework for understanding APT data and PMS data, and for jointly modelling both sets while calibrating an ME design method.