Sudden Failure of a Heavily Loaded Container Pavement

The case history of a sudden and unexpected failure in a pavement designed for 82 Mg axle loads at Port Botany in Sydney, Australia has been prepared using data derived from investigation of the failure. Failure of the pavement, comprised of an asphaltic concrete surface, unbound granular fine crushed rock base, crushed sandstone subbase, and sandy subgrade, and designed using the rational method—CIRCLY, occurred within days of being put into service. The failure resulted from a 20–30% increase in base course saturation levels following compaction that led to partial liquefaction under repeated heavy loading. There was a general failure throughout the storage area where trafficking was most intense and the pavement remained intact in lightly trafficked areas. The intact areas recovered over time without intervention through a moisture equilibration process as evidenced by an increase in measured pavement stiffness and loss of moisture within the pavement profile.