High modulus pavement design using accelerated loading testing (ALT)

In anticipation of the introduction of high modulus materials in the Swiss standards, a research project has been carried out for the evaluation of these bituminous mixtures. Three full-size test sections were built in a test hall for ALT named Halle-fosse: Two sections with two different high modulus bituminous mixtures (named EME, abbreviation of the French designation of the mixture: Enrobé à Module Elevé) as base layer, whereas the third section, used as reference, had a standard bituminous material base layer. The three structures were designed to have an equivalent fatigue resistance and were submitted to loading with a traffic simulator. This device, a truck axle, permits to simulate heavy traffic on roads. Strains were measured for different types of loading at different temperatures, in order to assess the response of the structure. Equivalency factors for both types of EME mixtures were established using, as a basis, the French design method.