Local calibration of MEPDG rutting model for Ontario’s Superpave pavements

The rutting models in the AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) have been calibrated to Ontario’s conditions for flexible pavements of Marshall mixes, and have yet to be calibrated for the Superpave materials. This study differs from previous studies in several counts: First, the local calibration database included both Superpave and Marshall mixes. Second, two of the five local calibration parameters (the temperature and traffic exponents) were pre-fixed based on a secondary study of the NCHRP 719 report. Third, both cross-sectional and longitudinal calibrations were performed and compared. It was concluded that the Superpave and Marshall mix pavements should be separately treated in the local calibration and that the cross-sectional and longitudinal calibrations behaved drastically differently in terms of residual errors. A set of local calibration parameters were recommended for future pavement design. It was recommended that trench investigations be done to further validate the results from the study.