METHODS

The goal of structural design is to determine the number, material composition and thickness of the different layers within a pavement structure required to accommodate a given loading regime. This includes the surface course as well as any underlying base or subbase layers. This section is focused on the structural design of new pavement. Structural design for rehabilitation is covered in Maintenance & Rehabilitation.
Structural design is mainly concerned with determining appropriate layer thickness and composition. Calculations are chiefly concerned with traffic loading stresses; other environmentally related stresses (such as temperature) are accounted for in mix design asphalt binder selection. The principal methods of structural design in use today are (from simplest to most complex) catalogs, empirical and mechanistic-empirical.

From: WAPA Asphalt Pavement Guide ...Read More...