Abstracts

The Road Well Traveled: Implications of a Future Climate on the Performance of Pavement Infrastructure in Southern Canada

Brian Mills¹, Susan Tighe, and Jean Andrey
¹Environment Canada
brian.mills@ec.gc.ca

Relatively little research has been conducted linking climate change to the future state of Canadian road and pavement infrastructure-despite the substantial $100 billion asset value of the road system, the dependence of Canadian economic and social activity on road transport, and the documented influence of climate and other environmental factors on the deterioration of pavements. In response to this knowledge gap, the authors have developed a research project that targets three climate-related issues that are likely to affect flexible pavement performance and management in southern Canada (regions not underlain by continuous or discontinuous permafrost) over the next several decades:

1. Permanent deformation associated with heat-related rutting;
2. Thermal cracking associated with low temperatures; and
3. Frost heave and associated seasonal deformation stress.

Implicit in each of these issues are the interactions among climatic conditions, traffic volume/mix, and construction (e.g., design standards, materials) and maintenance variables. The paper summarizes results from the literature review component of the project and presents findings from a preliminary analysis of historic climate data and future scenarios of climate change.

2005-04-05