A great and profound change is beginning to take form in the concrete pavement industry. It is not by accident or coincidence that these things are occurring, but instead, the result of great foresight, planning, and execution.

What is this change? It is the development and availability of software programs and other resources that offer a more sophisticated, automated approach to the engineering of pavement design.

The change can already be seen with the introduction of new tools for the pavement designer. The spotlight is shining on the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (M-E PDG) for highways; StreetPave software for streets and roads; and the anticipated update to ACPA's AirPave software for airfield and industrial pavements.

The common thread that connects these tools, as well as the great resources of training and other guide materials is that they simply infuse more science and engineering into pavement design, and hence, will allow greater optimization of pavements.

These tools are neither substitutes nor replacements for creativity or "engineering judgment." They simply provide a greater capability for considering the wide range of variables that go into pavements.

In the most practical terms, these tools will allow agencies and roadbuilders to design and build with greater confidence, knowing that the underpinnings of their decisions are rooted firmly in solid research and engineering science.

Equally important, all stakeholders will benefit from lower costs and greater efficiency associated with pavement optimization. Proper implementation of these new tools will benefit our ultimate customer: taxpayers and the traveling public.

Providing the greatest long-term value to these customers is simply the right thing to do.

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (M-E PDG) has taken giant strides in moving from the conceptual stages to full implementation. A tool aimed at automating and standardizing the process of pavement design, the M-E PDG holds great promise in helping highway pavement designers make decisions based on years of data development, testing, and programming that went into this pavement evaluation system.

In one of the most recent developments, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' (AASHTO's) Joint Task Force on Pavements endorsed the new guide, officially signaling a handoff from the NCHRP panel (1-40). The formal release among state transportation departments is expected in 2010.

M-E PDG uses real-world analysis tools to evaluate pavement performance, relying on pavement performance models to qualify designs.

The new M-E PDG includes a number of input parameters related directly to placement conditions and mix design, conditions during paving which can have impact on the resulting roadway's performance.

The new guide also includes defined modes of failure including cracking, faulting, and IRI (International Roughness Index) for concrete pavements and rutting, fatigue cracking, thermal cracking, IRI, and others for asphalt pavements.

This ability to predict specific distresses may ultimately result in a better comparison of equivalent pavement sections. A key to realistic comparisons will be for state agencies to calibrate the Guide using the best available local data and set comparable design periods and failure criteria.

ACPA's updated StreetPave design software program makes pavement comparisons more objective, while also allowing a higher degree of pavement optimization for local and highway applications.

StreetPave uses automated engineering analyses to produce optimized concrete pavement thicknesses for municipal, county, and state roadways and highways. By analyzing the cost of a pavement under specific traffic loads and over a set amount of time, it allows designers and engineers to base decisions on projected long-term pavement performance.

StreetPave is specifically valuable for those involved in the design of municipal streets and roadways because the analysis tools include updated information on current materials costs and additional considerations, such as curbing.

For highway design, the software tool also provides an accurate look at how a pavement will hold up under specific truck volume.

StreetPave is available in both a full-scale CD-ROM software version and a free online version.

The full version of StreetPave includes a number of additional features that allow designers to optimize concrete pavement thicknesses. It also includes an asphalt cross-section design process (based on the Asphalt Institute method) to create an equivalent asphalt design for the load carrying capacity requirement. A "Life Cycle Cost Analysis" module allows detailed cost/benefit analysis.

StreetPave is compatible with Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP compatible. For more information, visit the ACPA bookstore at www.pavement.com/bookstore. (ACPA members also may access the bookstore by logging into the members' only portion of the website.)

Already own the full version of StreetPave? ACPA also is offering a free patch to upgrade the original version of StreetPave to Version 1.2. Click here for a Word document containing details about the patch. Then, click here to download and install the file.

The free, online version of StreetPave includes some of the same features as the full original version of the software for a quick, cursory look at pavement design. For more information on using StreetPave, contact Scott Haislip, ACPA's Director of Streets & Roads, at 219-922-8104.

A new version of ACPA's popular AirPave airfield pavement design software is in the works and will provide more features for customizing concrete pavement thickness for airfields.

With the latest version of AirPave, engineers can customize pavement thicknesses to accommodate an entire fleet of aircraft. This marks just one of a number of user-friendly improvements that remove steps from the industry's airfield design process.

AirPave enhances the process of pavement design for runways and associated roads in three basic steps:

1. Input specific characteristics about the pavement to be constructed, including a thickness value;

2. Choose from a list of more than 25 popular aircraft with more than 59 configurations, including the A300, B777, and military aircraft. (Users also can customize configurations for any vehicle that will travel on the pavement, such as forklifts, cranes, straddle carriers, tracked vehicles, trucks, and non-standard aircraft.)

3. Click for a report that calculates fatigue life and stress ratios for pavements bearing loads.

The latest version of AirPave is in the final steps of review and is expected to be released in the 4th quarter of 2007. ACPA will announce details on ordering as soon as they are available.

For more information on airfield pavement design, contact Gary Mitchell at 704-948-8988.

ACPA encourages agencies, consultants, and other roadbuilders to attend Tech Day, the concrete pavement industry's premier event for research updates and advances in technology.

Tech Day, a perennially popular favorite part of ACPA's Annual Meeting, is a day-long series of presentations by top experts from throughout the transportation-construction community. Presenters this year include state agencies, contractors, researchers, and members of academia, speaking on topics including contractor and owner perspectives; alternate bidding; advances in surface characteristics; and more.

Tech Day is scheduled for Friday, November 30, the final day of ACPA's 44th Annual Meeting. For more information about Tech Day, contact Mike Ayers at 217-621-3438.ACPA's 44th annual meeting is only nine weeks away. The meeting this year will be at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Wednesday, November 28 to Friday, November 30, with affiliates' events scheduled on Monday, November 26 and Tuesday, November 27.

Click here to download an agenda and registration form.

For more information, contact Maryann Beckman-Berman at 847-966-2272.

ACPA encourages anyone responsible for purchasing or specifying equipment and materials for building roads to register for World of Concrete using the Association's code, A14.

This entitles participants to free exhibition admission (a $55 value) and reduced rates on technical seminars.

Click here to register by December 20 to receive these discounts.

World of Concrete will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev. from January 22 to 25. For more information, click here.