Permanent deformation testing for a new South African mechanistic pavement design method

The South Africa National Road Agency Limited together with the CSIR are undertaking a research and development project to support the revision of the South African mechanistic-empirical pavement design method. An important part of this project is to develop test protocols for hot-mix asphalt materials. To date, no permanent deformation test is incorporated into South African pavement design guides. The objective of this paper is to present the development process of a repeated load axial permanent deformation test protocol and models using a standard South African hot-mix asphalt material. The developed test protocol and models provide guidelines, and make a significant contribution to pavement design in South Africa.