Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is recognized as one of the most comprehensive ways to evaluate the environmental impacts of different strategies associated with a physical feature such as highway pavement structures, bridges and vertical structures. Alternatively, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is performed by different agencies including Manitoba Infrastructure (MI) to select the most cost-effec...

The paper presents results of sensitivity analysis to crack propagation of a pavement bituminous layered structure using the Finite Element Method (FEM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). The performed preliminary study determined stresses and displacements in the pavement layer system. The pavement structure consisting of asphalt layers, a base layer, subbase and subgrade layers was analyze...

In this study, an artificial neural network was developed in order to analyze flexible pavement structure and determine its critical responses under the influence of standard axle loading. In doing so, more than 10000 four-layered flexible pavement sections composed of asphalt concrete layer, base layer, subbase layer, and subgrade soil were analyzed under the impact of standard axle loading. P...

Theoretical methods are usually performed for ideal conditions to determine the illuminance and luminance but other design limitations should be considered in the real world. Also the visibility level is calculated by using background and target luminance under ideal conditions. In reality, there are many factors, which are very difficult to predict and include in lighting design equation. Huma...

A critical issue concerning the deterioration of ageing road infrastructure all around the world is the need to rapidly and cost-effectively evaluate the present condition of pavement infrastructure. Non-Destructive Test (NDT) and evaluation methods are well-suited for characterizing materials and determining structural integrity of pavement systems. The Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) is a ...

The primary objective of this study was to assess the pavement structural deterioration based on Non-Destructive Test (NDT) data using an Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) based approach. ANN-based prediction models were developed for rapid determination of flexible airfield pavement layer stiffnesses from actual NDT deflection data collected in the field in real time. For training the ANN model...

Infrastructure systems in the US are in an urgent need of maintenance and rehabilitation. According to the most recent factsheet published by the American Society of Civil Engineers, one of the top five infrastructure concerns of today in the US is transportation systems. The major challenge facing maintenance managers in state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) today is to preserve the road ...

Active and send-active suspensions have been evaluated for application on tractor/semi-trailer trucks using a pitch plane simulation model called "VESYM". VESYM is a fully nonlinear time domain simulation model. This paper reviews the effect of alternative heavy truck suspensions on pavement damage by using the flexible pavement simulation program "VESYS". It is shown that by estimating axle ti...

This study explored the feasibility of lignin based biofuel co-product (BCP) for subgrade soil stabilization, and more specifically, its impact on Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) pavement performance using the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). The HMA pavement systems with BCP stabilized subgrade under different traffic and climate conditions were modeled using mechanistic based damage...