The use of software BackMedina on pavement analysis at road experimental testing segment – BR-419/MS

Abstract: The DNIT (National Department of Transport Infrastructure) is the leading infrastructure agency in Latin America, responsible for the maintenance and construction of over 59,630 km of roads. Aiming to improve the quality of Brazilian pavement designs and, consequently, road construction, DNIT seeks to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and minimize environmental impacts by developing better-performing pavement layers with longer lifespans. In line with these goals, DNIT developed the Brazilian New Method of Pavement Design, named "MeDiNa." MeDiNa is a software that provides mechanistic-empirical pavement design by analyzing multiple pavement layers. It consists of three main calculation routines: stress and displacement analysis (AECM), backcalculation (BackMeDiNa), and design. One of the products, BackMeDiNa, is a software tool developed by DNIT that performs backcalculation of pavement deflections measured by a Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). After processing the data, it generates the layers' resilient modulus. DNIT is constructing experimental road testing segments on some new roads designed and built by the Brazilian government to evaluate performance and calibrate this new pavement design method. BackMeDiNa plays a crucial role in assessing the structural properties of pavement layers. The primary objective of this study is to present the field data collected from two 500-meter-long experimental road segments on BR-419. The data were processed using BackMeDiNa to perform a backcalculation of the pavement layers' properties. Additionally, this study demonstrates the advantages of using this new software compared to other backcalculation programs, such as BAKFAA and EVERCALC, highlighting its productivity gains and overall efficiency.