IMPACTS OF DESIGN AND MATERIAL QUALITY ON PAVEMENT RUTTING PROGRESSION

Abstract

Infrastructure deterioration is influenced by a multitude of factors including design and construction quality. This paper focuses on quantifying the impacts of such initial condition variables on life -cycle performance. Although in previous research an analysis framework for investigating such impacts was developed, quantitative results were inconclusive due to data and model limitations. In this study a rutting progression model that explicitly captures design and material quality variables is used whereby the effects of these variables on rut depth evolution over time are analyzed in quantitative terms. The results are in turn used to motivate future research in understanding significant temporal tradeoffs in infrastructure provision.