A Comparison between the Empirical and Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Methods

In this paper a comparative study has been carried out between the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Methods and the Empirical Pavement Design Methods. For the purpose of this paper, nine pavement design sections have been prepared using the Mechanistic-Empirical Methods represented by the Asphalt Institute Design Method (SW-1 software of the Asphalt Institute) and the Empirical Design represented by AASHTO 1993 and TRL Road Note No.31, using the same traffic loading and subgrade strength. Three traffic loading scenarios have been considered for this study.

(Key words: Mechanistic-Empirical, Empirical, axle loads, Subgrade Strength, pavement design)