Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Pavement Design

Overview This project concerns assessing the impacts of climate change on pavement design, enabling pavement designers to demonstrate that climate change impacts, including temperature, rainfall, moisture, and extreme weather events, have been considered in pavement designs using current Austroads design procedures. Purpose The purpose of this project is to allow pavement designers to demonstrate that the impacts of climate change (including temperature, rainfall, moisture, and extreme weather events) have been considered in pavement designs using current Austroads design procedures. Scope The scope includes: Providing an assessment, based on published data, of the likely impacts of projected climate change (including temperature, rainfall, moisture regimes and extreme weather events) on pavement performance across Australia and New Zealand Identifying pavement types, materials and distress mechanisms most vulnerable to projected climate changes Assessing the implications of projected climate change for pavement surfacing selection, including the suitability of surfacing types and materials under future climate conditions Undertaking a literature review and synthesis of international practice to assess how climate change is being considered and included in pavement design Identifying an appropriate approach for selecting climate projections, climate variables, time horizons and climate scenarios for use in pavement design, having regard to pavement design life, geographic location, uncertainty in climate projections and the sensitivity of pavement performance to relevant climate variables Evaluating how current Austroads pavement design methods and guidance can be used or adapted to allow for future climate scenarios, including identification of limitations, gaps and uncertainties in the current Austroads guidance Assessing climate change impacts on pavement functional performance not adequately addressed by current design methods (for example rutting, shoving, potholing, delamination, flushing), and identifying any additional guidance required Assessing whether relevant findings from the literature review and international practice can be included into the current Austroads pavement design procedures and identifying any adaptations required Providing case studies demonstrating how projected climate changes can be assessed within current Austroads pavement design frameworks Developing practical and standardised guidance to support pavement designers in considering climate change and documenting the basis for their design decisions Determining whether a revision to the current Austroads pavement design approaches is warranted to explicitly address climate change, and, if so, identifying the changes required Developing an Austroads research report documenting the investigation, findings, conclusions and recommendations Developing proposed revisions to Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology (AGPT) Part 2: Pavement Structural Design and Part 5 Pavement Evaluation and Treatment Design, including providing supporting guidance, examples and other material necessary to implement the recommended approach Deliverables This project will produce the following final deliverables: Research report Updated edition of Austroads Guide to Pavement Technology Part 2: Pavement Structural Design (AGPT Part 2) and Part 5: Pavement Evaluation and Treatment Design Webinar Project data with populated metadata spreadsheet