Design of Frost Resistant Pavement Structure Based on Road Weather Stations (RWSs) Data

Audrius Vaitkus, Judita Gražulytė, Egidijus Skrodenis and Igoris Kravcovas
Additional contact information
Audrius Vaitkus: Road Research Institute, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Linkmenų str. 28, Vilnius LT-08217, Lithuania
Judita Gražulytė: Road Research Institute, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Linkmenų str. 28, Vilnius LT-08217, Lithuania
Egidijus Skrodenis: Department of Urban Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio ave. 11, Vilnius LT-10223, Lithuania
Igoris Kravcovas: Road Research Institute, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Linkmenų str. 28, Vilnius LT-08217, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Frost is a decisive factor influencing pavement performance in cold countries. In the EU, millions of euros are spent annually on winter maintenance. About one-third of the maintenance budget is allocated to rehabilitation due to the negative impact of frost. The negative effect of frost is restricted by using non-frost-susceptible materials within the frost zone and regulating water accumulation. However, experience shows that the thickness of constructed pavement structure is often inadequate and that frost penetrates into the subgrade of frost-susceptible materials. The aim of this paper is to introduce the thickness calculation approach of the frost resistant pavement structure using road weather station (RWS) data. The subgrade susceptibility to frost and the number of equivalent single axle loads (ESALs) are considered as factors too. The calculated thickness of the frost resistant pavement structure is corrected according to the specific local conditions. After performing a statistical analysis of 2012–2014 data pertaining to 26 RWSs, Lithuania was divided into four regions according to the maximum frost depths, where the maximum values depending on RWS location varied from 110.4 cm to 179.1 cm.

Keywords: frost resistant pavement structure; frost depth; road weather station (RWS); pavement thickness; frost depth regions; frost resistant pavement thickness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/12/1328/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/12/1328/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:12:p:1328-:d:85404

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().