The Implications of Climate Change on Pavement Performance and Design

The Implications of Climate Change on Pavement Performance and Design
Author: By Qiang Li
Publisher:
Total Pages: 123
Release: 2011
Genre: Pavements
ISBN:

Pavements are designed based on historic climatic patterns, reflecting local climate and incorporating assumptions about a reasonable range of temperatures and precipitation levels. Given anticipated climate changes and the inherent uncertainty associated with such changes, a pavement could be subjected to very different climatic conditions over the design life and might be inadequate to withstand future climate forces that impose stresses beyond environmental factors currently considered in the design process. This research explores the impacts of potential climate change and its uncertainty on pavement performance and therefore pavement design. Two tools are integrated to simulate pavement conditions over a variety of scenarios. The first tool, MAGICC/SCENGEN (Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas Induced Climate Change: A regional Climate Scenario Generator), provides estimates of the magnitude of potential climate change and its uncertainty. The second tool, the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) software analyzes the deterioration of pavement performance. Three important questions are addressed: (1) How does pavement performance deteriorate differently with climate change and its uncertainty? (2) What is the risk if climate change and its uncertainty are not considered in pavement design? and (3) How do pavement designers respond and incorporate this change into pavement design process? This research develops a framework to incorporate climate change effects into the mechanistic-empirical based pavement design. Three test sites in the North Eastern United States are studied and the framework is applied. It demonstrates that the framework is a robust and effective way to integrate climate change into pavement design as an adaptation strategy.

Quantifying the Effects of Climate Change on Pavement Performance Prediction Using AASHTOWoware Pavement ME Design

Quantifying the Effects of Climate Change on Pavement Performance Prediction Using AASHTOWoware Pavement ME Design
Author: Md Shahjalal Chowdhury
Publisher:
Total Pages: 77
Release: 2020
Genre: Climatic changes
ISBN:

"Climate change is one of the most concerning global issues and has the potential to influence every aspect of human life. Like different components of society, it can impose significant adverse impacts on pavement infrastructure. Although several research efforts have focused on studying the effects of climate change on natural and built systems, its impact on pavement performance has not been studied as extensively. The primary objectives of this thesis research was to quantify the effect of temperature changes on flexible pavement response and performance prediction using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design (PMED), and quantify the effects of Local Calibration Factors (LCFs) used by different state highway agencies in the United States on predicted pavement performance. Particular emphasis was given to LCF values used by the Idaho Transportation Department. The climatic data, as well as LCFs corresponding to several different states, were used to identify how different LCF values affect pavement performance prediction. The effects of atmospheric temperature changes on pavement temperature and Asphalt Concrete (AC) layer modulus were studied by analyzing the intermediate files generated by PMED. Finally, the impact of temperature change on AC dynamic modulus (E*) was also analyzed to link the PMED-predicted distresses with asphalt mix properties. Historical climatic data was obtained from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) database. Projected data considered to simulate the temperature changes in the future were generated by adopting two different approaches: (1) Manual alteration of historical temperature distribution data to represent scenarios with increased mean and standard deviation values; and (2) Use of temperature data projected by established Global Climate Models (GCM). All different climatic scenarios were used in PMED along with a standard pavement section, and the distresses predicted over the design life of the pavement were compared. Simulation results showed consistent increase in Total Pavement rutting and AC rutting with increasing air temperatures. The effect of temperature increase on AC thermal cracking predicted by PMED demonstrated inconsistent trends. In contrast, the projected temperature increase had no significant effect on bottom-up fatigue cracking for the chosen study locations. It was found that the impact of changed air temperatures can be different for pavement sections constructed in different geographic locations. Moreover, the analysis confirmed that the Local Calibration Factors (LCFs) established by different state highway agencies played a major role in governing the effect of future temperature increase on predicted pavement performance. Through an extensive stud."--Boise State University ScholarWorks.

Climatic Effects on Pavement and Geotechnical Infrastructure

Climatic Effects on Pavement and Geotechnical Infrastructure
Author: Jenny Liu (Civil engineer)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Earthwork
ISBN: 9780784413326

This collection contains 22 peer-reviewed papers on climatic effects on pavement and geotechnical infrastructure presented at the 2013 International Symposium on Climatic Effects on Pavement and Geotechnical Infrastructure, held in Fairbanks, Alaska, August 4-7, 2013.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation
Author: Division on Earth and Life Studies
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2008-07-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309185408

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released the pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 290, The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, which explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change. The book also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary greenhouse gas--that contribute to climate change. Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online. DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

Climate Change Adaptation for Transportation Systems

Climate Change Adaptation for Transportation Systems
Author: Michael A.P. Taylor
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 344
Release: 2020-10-10
Genre: Law
ISBN: 012816638X

Climate Change Adaptation for Transportation Systems examines the international state of knowledge on climate change and weather and their potential impacts on the planning, design and serviceability of transportation networks. The book describes alternative frameworks for adapting to climate change in the planning, provision and management of transportation systems. It discusses methods and models for including climate and weather factors in planning and design for use in transportation asset systems under risk and uncertainty. Giving specific attention to road, rail, ports and harbors, the book provides users with the tools they need in decision-making approaches where there is uncertainty. Examines the impact of climate change and extreme weather on the performance and serviceability of transportation assets Explores the issues, methods, frameworks, models and techniques for assessing transportation systems' performance, including considerations for climate and the environment Provides case studies from around the world to illustrate methods, covering a wide range of climatic conditions, considerations and approaches for transportation planners

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
Author: U.S. Global Change Research Program
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 193
Release: 2009-08-24
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0521144078

Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers.

AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993

AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, 1993
Author: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
Publisher: AASHTO
Total Pages: 622
Release: 1993
Genre: Pavements
ISBN: 1560510552

Design related project level pavement management - Economic evaluation of alternative pavement design strategies - Reliability / - Pavement design procedures for new construction or reconstruction : Design requirements - Highway pavement structural design - Low-volume road design / - Pavement design procedures for rehabilitation of existing pavements : Rehabilitation concepts - Guides for field data collection - Rehabilitation methods other than overlay - Rehabilitation methods with overlays / - Mechanistic-empirical design procedures.