Local Road Management Manual 452 from the AASHO Road Test. The objective of the AASHO Road Test was to determine the relationship between the number of repetitions of specified axle loads of different magnitudes and the performance of different thicknesses of flexible and rigid pavements built on a single subgrade. Four large loops of road approximately 3.2 km (2.0 miles) long were constructed together with two smaller loops . Each loop comprised a two-lane highway. Within each loop, test sections of a pavement with a minimum length of 30m (100 feet) were constructed. A total of 468 test sections of flexible pavements were included together with test sections of rigid pavements. Vehicular traffic, using specially selected and loaded vehicles with specific axle loads and wheel configurations, was allowed to move on each lane of the loops almost continuously for two years. Each lane always carried the same type of vehicle with the same axle load throughout the two-year study period but no two lanes carried vehicles of the same type and axle load. The Road Test was clearly a massive undertaking and has provided an enormous amount of data which has been analysed extensively over a 30-year period. Pavement Deterioration and Serviceability A pavement can be subjected to a number of detrimental effects including fatigue failures (cracking), which are the result of repeated stress caused by traffic passing over the pavement. The pavement is also placed in an uncontrolled environment that produces temperature extremes and moisture variations. The combination of the environment, traffic loads, material variations, and construction variations requires a comparatively complex set of design procedures to incorporate all of the variables. The ASSHTO pavement design procedure has been widely accepted by DPWH and around the world. It considers environment, load and materials in a methodology that is relatively easy to use. In technical terms, sealed pavement failure occurs whenever cracking, rutting or other surface distresses become visible. In contrast, the road users usually associate pavement failure with poor riding quality. Pavement engineers conducting the ASSHTO Road Test were faced with the task of combining the two failure definitions so that a single design procedure could be used to satisfy both observers. The Pavement Serviceability- Performance Concept was developed to address the
Local Road Management Manual Page 452 Page 454