Pavement engineering
Encyclopedia
Pavement engineering is a branch of civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

 that uses engineering techniques to design and maintain flexible (asphalt) and rigid (concrete) pavements. This includes streets and highways and involves knowledge of soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

s, hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...

, and material properties. Pavement engineering involves new construction as well as rehabilitation and maintenance of existing pavements. Maintenance often involves using engineering judgment to make maintenance repairs with the highest long-term benefit and lowest cost. The Pavement Condition Index
Pavement Condition Index
The Pavement Condition Index is a numerical index between 0 and 100 and is used to indicate the condition of a roadway. It is widely used in transportation civil engineering. It is a statistical measure and requires manual survey of the pavement...

 (PCI) is an example of an engineering approach applied to existing pavements. Another example is the use of a falling weight deflectometer
Falling weight deflectometer
A falling weight deflectometer, FWD, is a testing device used by civil engineers to evaluate the physical properties of pavement. FWD data is primary used to estimate pavement structural capacity for 1) overlay design and 2) to determine if a pavement is being overloaded. Use includes highways,...

(FWD) to non-destructively test existing pavements. Calculation of pavement layer strengths can be performed from the resulting deflection data.
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