Pavement Design in the USA

Abstract

The methodology for calculating pavements used in the United States is discussed in this article. The article contains the principles of pavement design outlined in the manual “P. Design of New and Reconstructed Flexible Pavements. Part 3”, which are used by designers not only in the United States, but also in many countries around the world. Differences in approaches to pavement design in the Russian Federation and the United States are shown. It is marked that in difference from Russia, where requirements documents are valid on all territory of the country, in America each state develops its own requirements documentation, however the general principles of designing presented in the above-mentioned manual, remain invariable. In order to compare the pavement structures used in Russia and the USA the author has given examples of constructions developed on the basis of the US guidelines and has shown the main differences of these constructions from those which are traditionally applied in our road construction. In addition, the author draws attention to the fact that in contrast to Russia in the U.S. roads usually have a non-rigid type of pavement, which significantly increases their strength and durability