Impact of Climate Change on Pavement Structural Performance

Abstract

Future climate change and its influence on the performance of the road network is an issue that is concerning more and more road authorities. The impact of climate change on road infrastructure can be twofold: extreme climatic events can cause infrastructure damage and traffic disruptions in a short period of time, while long-term climate change can jeopardize the durability and functionality of road infrastructure over a longer period and cause more intensive maintenance work. The objective of the paper was to review potential impact of the most relevant climatic parameters like temperature and precipitation, on the long-term performance of primarily flexible pavements, since they constitute vast majority of road networks in the region. The case study has shown that increase in temperature of 1 oC would result in flexible pavement life reduction between 6% and 10%, depending on pavement structure and traffic loading. The road infrastructure design in the future would require taking into account future climate changes and not only historical climate information. In particular, it will be necessary to adapt design criteria regarding temperature and return period of storm flows, as well as selection of component materials and asphalt mixture design to make more rutting resistant mixtures.