Stochastic Characterization, Simulation, and Analysis of Environmental (Precipitation and Temperature) Inputs into the M-E Design Framework
Abstract
The engineering design of pavements is a complex process requiring regular updating and
calibration to produce durable and resilient road surfaces. To achieve this goal, research is
conducted continuously to obtain input parameters which are used to produce advanced
tools. Recently, an advanced pavement structural design tool termed the Mechanistic
Empirical (M-E) Pavement Design approach was introduced to the engineering
community. The M-E process employs issues about engineering, traffic, environmental
factors, construction, and economics in the design and selection of appropriate types of
road surfaces. Although the new M-E approach can result in improved designs, the
approach does not address a design methodology for selecting the best pavement for a
particular application. Currently, State Highway Agencies employ different procedures to
design pavements based on empirical data collected in 1960s. The trials used data collected
during two climatic seasons. Since then, a number of research initiatives have been
conducted investigating issues such as soil characterization, traffic, and construction.
However, none have focused on environmental issues which also provide inputs for the ME design framework. This research focuses on temperature and precipitation: two main
environmental factors of concern. The M-E design approach uses traditional statistical
analysis to compute the input parameters of sampling points which are often spread over a
large geographic region and do not provide a representative sample. Because temperature
and precipitation are composed of continuous data, geostatistics were employed to compute
statistical parameters through stochastic characterization, simulation, and analysis.