Concrete pavement analysis: the first eighty years

Abstract

This paper traces the evolution of analytical methods for concrete pavements over the period from the publication of Westergaard's early work in the 1920s until today. It is demonstrated that this development was accomplished in parallel with the birth and coming of age of geotechnical engineering, and was likewise pioneered by a number of colorful and distinguished personalities. Westergaard's analysis had been based on a series of limiting assumptions, which have defined the task for generations of pavement engineers. The eventual elimination of these shortcomings has been possible only through a combination of road tests and laboratory studies, jerry-rigged equipment and sophisticated electronic tools. As a new era of mechanistic-empirical pavement design is ushered in, it behooves the profession to undertake a concerted and serious effort to eliminate the most crucial remaining stumbling block to their efforts: Miner's fatigue hypothesis. Fracture mechanics, similitude concepts and the principles of dimensional analysis hold the brightest promise of a future worthy of the pioneers celebrated herein.

Keywords:

• Concrete pavement
• Analytical methods
• History of pavement engineering
• Theory