Canada's roads keep our society mobile and contribute significantly to our economic infrastructure. The economic (cost-effective) design, and more importantly preservation, of these valuable national assets cannot be overstated. Advancements in asphalt and concrete technology, as well as pavement design methods, through research and development activities have made significant contributions to building longer lasting pavements with lower service costs. This has been accomplished through a better understanding of pavement design, rehabilitation, and maintenance methods and applications. In this paper, the benefits of recent technology advancements such as the development of the new AASHTO 2002 pavement design guide, as well as the use of technology advancements such as, pavement smoothness specifications, open graded drainage layers, perpendicular transverse joints in concrete pavements, ultra-thin whitetopping, stone mastic asphalt, micro-surfacing and expanded/foamed asphalt are discussed. For each technology or technique, a synthesis and history of practice is provided along with a relative ranking of performance benefits and costs.
Abstract