Superpave Pavement Design Temperatures in Estonia

Abstract

This paper introduces the maximum and minimum pavement temperatures of Estonian asphalt pavements in accordance with calculation models developed for North America and Norway. Historical meteorological data from 1992 to 2021 obtained from 25 different weather stations in Estonia were used as an input for the respective models. Comparison between the calculation models demonstrated high variability of the pavement design temperatures, thus significantly impacting the bitumen grade selection. Based on the road weather stations data, the Norwegian and Canadian models provide the most accurate pavement temperature estimations for Estonian conditions. Calculated upper and lower-bound pavement design temperatures varied between +52 °C to +58 °C and −22 °C to −34 °C, respectively. All models showed milder pavement temperatures and lower seasonal temperature amplitudes for coastal and offshore areas. The results also indicated the importance of validating model suitability as well as correlation with actual pavement temperatures in the Baltic region.