DETERMINING THE WINTER DESIGN TEMPERATURE FOR ASPHALT PAVEMENTS

Abstract

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has recognized that the original SUPERPAVE winter design temperature is too conservative for very cold winter climates. The purpose of this study was to develop a method for selecting winter design temperatures for pavement sites in cold winter climates to enable the selection of asphalt binders which resist thermal cracking. This report describes the development of an algorithm for estimating winter design temperatures for asphalt pavements based on readily available climatic data. The relationship between the minimum pavement temperature and the minimum air temperature for several pavement test sites was studies and at all sites, an excellent correlation was found between minimum air and pavement temperatures. The equation for estimating winter design temperatures for a pavement test site from the local winter temperature history is developed and presented. This equation includes a factor for the desired reliability, and can be sued with the SUPERPAVE paving mix design system. (A)