Basic Course in Pavement Engineering

• Classify pavement types
• Understand expected pavement roles
• Use basic pavement terminology adequately and correctly
• Appreciate the importance of proper compaction of pavement layers
• Perform basic pavement mechanics calculations involving material properties
• Perform basic pavement mechanics calculations involving traffic loads
• Identify common asphalt pavement distress types
• List probable causes of common distress types in asphalt pavements

The following topics are covered:
(i) Recap of soil mechanics concepts;
(ii) Pavement roles and functions;
(iii) Pavement types, definitions and terminology;
(iv) Overview of asphalt pavement construction process;
(v) Pavement materials – resilient modulus, linear viscoelasticity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tzEEfKkF5g);
(vi) Traffic loads;
(vii) Pavement mechanics – elastic half-space;
(viii) Environmental aspects;
(ix) Pavement distress – structural and functional;
(x) Design methods and approaches for roads and airport pavements.

Lectures, discussions, exercises, project work, and possibly some laboratory demonstrations

The topic of ‘Road Geometry’ may be introduced during one or two meetings (instead of Topic x).