Structural design of asphalt pavement on concrete bridges

Abstract

Traditional methods for the structural design of pavement cannot be applied to the design of pavement on bridge decks. In this paper, a new method for the structural design of asphalt pavement on concrete bridge decks is presented. The method can be applied to pavement on girder, slab, and box-girder bridges and can be used whatever the considered degree of bonding between pavement and deck. The method consists of modelling the deck as a two-layer system and then calculating stresses and strains in the pavement–deck system by means of a multilayer system. The proposed methodology has been applied to study the behaviour of asphalt concretes, porous asphalts, and stone matrix asphalts on girder, slab, and box-girder bridges. There is a conclusion of this application that stands out for its practical character. The stone matrix asphalts have the best performance if fatigue is the main concern.Key words: bridge decks, asphalt pavement, design.