Engineering Professional Programs

Course Faculty: Newton Jackson and James Signore

Pavement design is undergoing major change as traditional procedures and approaches are modernized. Traffic disruptions and costs associated with rehabilitating failed or distressed pavement have raised the need for ways to extend pavement life. The Washington State Department of Transportation and the University of Washington have partnered to revise design procedures and criteria for flexible and rigid pavements. The current WSDOT design procedure utilizes the basic AASHTO design procedures contained in the 1993 Guide for new pavement design.

This basic course focuses on the critical elements of successful pavement design by covering the basic AASHTO procedures as well as the technical basis for that design procedure. The course is for engineers directly involved in developing or approving pavement structural design alternatives for local agencies as well as state and federal agencies. It covers the development of design concepts in Washington, selection criteria for pavement type, materials, traffic impact, drainage, and other considerations for flexible pavement design. Rigid pavement, rehabilitation design concepts, and the use of computers in all phases of pavement design are covered.

Course Topics

History of pavement design in the United States

Overview of design principles

Pavement failures--learning from mistakes

Soil testing and characterizations

Traffic considerations as live load

Properties of base types

Asphalt cements and mixes

Relationships between design and construction specifications

Structural section types and selection

Structural section drainage

Who Should Attend

Roadway design engineers, engineering reviewers, supervisors, and construction engineering personnel from local, state and federal agencies will benefit from this course. While much of the material is directed toward local and state agency personnel, federal and private sector participants will find this information important especially in the context of proposed changes to the design of flexible pavements in Washington.

Continuing Education Units and Professional Development Hours

Course participants will earn 2.1 CEUs/21 PDHs upon successful completion of this course. The CEU is a nationally recognized measure of participation in a noncredit continuing education program that meets established criteria for increasing knowledge and competency.