Software Development for the AASHTO and ERA Flexible Pavement Design Methods
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2012-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In Ethiopia the number and type of traffic increases and the change is alarming. This leads to the construction of road infrastructures which needs economical and safe design of roads. Nowadays, flexible pavement roads and surface failure before the expected design period has become a critical issue in our country.
The design in our country is based on the prevailing condition of soil and materials report using the Ethiopian Roads Authority ( ) Pavement Design Manual where the results obtained will be compared with that of the Structural Design Pavement manual. Finally, the thickness obtained using both design guides will be compared. And it is known that pavement thickness design in our country is manual based.
Manual design method has a drawback in avoiding human mistake, error and doing many alternatives for comparison as flexible pavement design involves different nomograph, charts, tables and formulas so it is cumbersome and time taking practice which may result in unsafe or uneconomical design.
The development of the software is using MATLABR2008b programming language. And the goals achieved are the thicknesses of surface, base and subbase layers of flexible pavement roads are determined and different design charts, default values and tables are digitalized.
Furthermore, comparison between AASHTO and ERA methods in terms of thickness and construction cost can be made to select the best design alternative. Besides, the designer or researcher can do as many alternatives as needed in short time.
The result obtained by the developed software (AASHERA) is verified by comparing with the manuals and examples from different books. And the analysis results turn out to be successful when it is compared with the manuals and books calculation.
KEY WORDS: AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design, ERA Flexible Pavement Design, AASHTO Road Test, AASHERA
Description
Keywords
AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design; ERA Flexible Pavement Design; AASHTO Road Test; AASHERA