A review of practical experience throughout Europe on deterioration in fully-flexible and semi-rigid long-life pavements

Abstract

This article looks at some of the observations that have been made in a number of European countries on the behaviour of fully-flexible and semi-rigid pavements. Evidence for the existence of long-life pavements has been collected from expert opinion on deterioration as well as practical measurements from pavements on national networks. Observations on rutting, cracking, deflections and overall performance are presented from the UK, The Netherlands and Hungary. These observations confirm that certain pavements do not deteriorate structurally and hence can have unexpectedly long-lives, i.e. they can be classified as ‘long-life pavements’, thus providing the highway authorities with many potential economic benefits. The European Long-Life Pavements Group (ELLPAG) is seeking to further promote these benefits through the more widespread use of these pavements in Europe and is aiming to develop coordinated research to achieve this; a short description of ELLPAG is provided.

Keywords:

• Fully-flexible pavement
• Semi-rigid pavement
• Rutting
• Cracking