Enhancing Asphalt Pavement Resilience Under Extreme Heat: Design Strategies and Performance Analysis

Abstract: Climate change presents significant challenges to existing infrastructure systems, especially road networks designed using historical climatic data. In addition to changes in average temperatures, projections indicate that extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and severe, potentially exceeding current design limits. Addressing these extreme events necessitates integrating resilience into pavement designs by accounting for the effects of temperature rises on asphalt aging and performance through mechanistic-empirical analysis methods.
Within a holistic approach, this study evaluates the performance of pavement sections under extreme heat conditions, using Qatar's pavement sections as a case study. Due to high pavement service temperatures, asphalt pavements in Qatar and the surrounding region are susceptible to the risk of rutting in the initial periods of construction and aging, leading to potential premature surface cracks. To account for these factors, the study considers real traffic loads and climatic conditions to predict the performance of asphalt pavements. A simplified mechanistic-empirical pavement design (MEPD) method, tailored to Qatar’s conditions, is employed for performance analysis. The Global Aging System (GAS) is incorporated in this analysis method to account for binder aging over time in response to the increased frequency and intensity of heat waves. The analysis examines the performance of various asphalt pavement structures in Qatar subjected to a wide range of traffic levels, ranging from 5 to 200 million equivalent single axle loads (ESALs). Our analysis focuses on enhancing pavement resilience to rutting and cracking by improving material selection, mix type, and layer thicknesses. Future studies could integrate the role of preservation strategies in enhancing the resilience of asphalt pavements to extreme heat waves and precipitation events.