Development of a Model to Predict Pavement Temperature for Ghat Region in Libya

Abstract

Asphalt pavements form an integral part of any transportation system. The structural capacity of the hot mix asphalt concrete layers depends on many factors including its temperature. Moreover, temperature can be a major contributor to several types of distresses. Therefore, temperature is a significant factor that affects the performance and life span of a pavement. The Libyan road network expanded at a phenomenal pace from approximately 1500 km of paved roads in 1970 to morethan 100,000 km in 2008. Ghat region is located on the southern east of Libya at latitude (24 59' N) in the desert. With the recent SHRP and LTTP research findings, it was necessary to investigate the applicability of the models developed from these research studies to Ghat's environmental conditions and more generally to the rest of Libyan desert reigions. This paper presents the research undertaken to develop models to predict high and low asphalt pavement temperatures in the Ghat region . A pavement monitoring station was set-up in Ghat to monitor air and pavement temperatures in different depth, wind speed and solar radiation. Data were collected for 365days. Daily minimum and maximum temperatures were recorded. A regression analysis was used to develop the minimum and maximum pavement temperature models, using air temperature, wind speed and solar radiation. This paper presents a new model for predicting maximum and minimum surface pavement temperature based on data collected by installed pavement monitoring station set-up at the Ghat region.