Addressing Highway Pavement Resilience to Climate Change: A Review of Major Vulnerability Issues and Adaptation Strategies

ABSTRACT
Anthropogenic climate change is among the greatest challenges we face, given the threat it poses to the natural and built environments. This paper addresses resilience of pavements in the context of climate change by reviewing the major vulnerabilities and adaptation measures. First, the basic concepts relevant to this topic, such as sources of climate information and downscaling climate data, climate scenarios, and uncertainty in climate projection, are introduced. The climate-induced pavement stressors of particular interest in this regard are increases in temperature and precipitation intensity. As such, the proposed engineering-informed adaptation measures relevant to these stressors are evidence-based, and they relate to monitoring pavement key performance parameters and pavement adaptations in structural design, materials, and mix design, along with adaptation in maintenance, regulations, and construction. The measures proposed in various research studies include increasing pavement layer thickness, using stiffer binders, use of geotextiles, performing more frequent maintenance, and enforcing more stringent acceptance tolerances for mixes and materials. This study concludes that climate adaptation measures in pavement should be incorporated in the decision-making process at the planning and design stages. In turn, this underscores the importance of integrating practical adaptation strategies in design and construction standards and supporting awareness of, and education on, climate change adaptation among engineers and practitioners.

Keywords: Adaptation Strategies; Climate Change Resilience; Mitigation Measures; Mix Design; Structural Design; Pavement Stressors; Robust Materials; Uncertainty.