Accelerated pavement testing in highway engineering

Full-scale accelerated testing of pavements has become a powerful technique for assisting with understanding pavement deterioration under realistic conditions and measuring pavement response to moving wheel loads. It forms an essential bridge between laboratory work and theory and the site situation. In the USA there has been a major investment in such facilities in recent years following a careful assessment of the potential cost–benefit ratios. Extensive experience in South Africa suggests a ratio of about 1:10, and this would be the likely situation in the UK if further investment were made. A description is given of the leading test tracks and testing machines, focusing mainly on US developments but with reference to experience in the EU and elsewhere. Equipment that is laboratory-based, such as that at the Transport Research Laboratory in the UK, and facilities that may be moved to various sites are reviewed. It is concluded that a mobile facility that uses the best of modern technology blended with proven experience from elsewhere would be most appropriate to support the UK highway industry in the future.