Performance of a Perpetual Pavement on Highway 406 in Ontario

The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) constructed its first perpetual pavement in 2007.
Pavement monitoring was conducted to determine not only the long term performance but the
potential of perpetual pavements to be classified as a sustainable pavement strategy. The use
of perpetual pavements is intended to reduce major rehabilitation works and the associated
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by reducing traffic delays associated with major construction.
The first perpetual pavement trial with Rich Bottom Mix (RBM) was completed on Highway 406,
near Thorold. At this location, Highway 406 is a four-lane divided freeway with annual
Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) of 450,000.

The Highway 406 project included widening from two to four lanes and was originally designed
as a conventional deep strength flexible pavement. The perpetual pavement concept was
incorporated into the project at the final design stage. As a green field project, it allowed the
construction of both a trial and control section under identical conditions. The final design of the
Highway 406 project was modified to accommodate the perpetual pavement concept with the
addition of 80 mm RBM hot mix asphalt. Conventional deep strength pavement was constructed
at the northern section as a control, and the perpetual pavement trial was constructed at the
southern end.

In 2016, this first perpetual pavement trial reached its 9-year service life. Annual pavement
condition data such as pavement roughness, rutting and cracking were collected and analyzed.
This paper presents the pavement performance and compares the results of the perpetual
pavement with conventional deep strength pavement.