Analysis of Engineering Characteristics of Pavement Deflection Trends

Abstract

This paper describes analysis of pavement deflection data collected by the Transport Research Laboratory at two experimental road sites in England during 1960–1985. Measurements of Benkelman beam deflections together with records of traffic loading were taken at 6 to 12 month intervals. The analysis investigates the deflection trend as a function of road base material and thickness. The deflection trend was represented by a negative exponential curve form. Engineering aspects of the curve form were extracted and statistically analyzed. The results obtained focus on the dependency of deflection progression on both road base material and thickness, which are shown to act either jointly or singly, depending on the engineering characteristic of the pavement deflection trend.