Understanding Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) for North Dakota Implementation
North Dakota currently designs roads based on the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Design Guide procedure, which is based on the empirical findings of the AASHTO Road Test of the late 1950s. However, limitations of the current empirical approach have prompted AASHTO to move toward the new mechanistically based pavement design procedure described in the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), which was released to the public for review in 2004 under National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 1-37A. MEPDG combines mechanistic and empirical methodology and provides more realistic characterization of in-service pavements. Its mechanistic approach is both more thorough and more computationally complex than the existing AASHTO design method, and as a result the method can require an extensive number of detailed material, foundational, traffic, and environmental inputs. This and other factors can present a challenge to agencies wishing to implement the new method. Because AASHTO has adopted the MEPDG and highway agencies across the nation are moving towards its implementation, it is critical that North Dakota becomes familiar with the MEPDG documentation and software and identify input data requirements for design. This report summarizes the findings of MEPDG implementation in North Dakota, identifies input data needs and research steps of the MEPDG implementation in the state and also prepares North Dakota for successful implementation of the MEPDG statewide.
- Record URL:
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- Cover title: North Dakota Implementation of Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
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Corporate Authors:
Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
North Dakota State University
1320 Albrecht Boulevard
Fargo, ND United States 581052 North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND United States 58108Research and Innovative Technology Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Authors:
- Lu, Pan
- Bratlien, Andrew
- Tolliver, Denver
- Publication Date: 2014-12
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 59p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Calibration; Implementation; Mechanistic-empirical pavement design; Sensitivity analysis; Software
- Identifier Terms: Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide
- Geographic Terms: North Dakota
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Design; Highways; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01551441
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: MPC 14-274
- Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Jan 27 2015 11:23AM