Adaptation Strategies on Flexible Pavement Design Practices Due to Climate Change in Canada

It has been shown that Canada’s climate is warming at more than double the global rate (CCCR2019), therefore, Canadian road infrastructure could be at risk if adaptation strategies are neglected. Key climatic parameters that govern the design and performance of flexible pavement may alter in the future, leading to different climatic loads on road structures, which in turn may result in reduced performance and shortened service life. To that end, this research aims to propose a methodology for the incorporation of climatic projected changes in the design of flexible pavement in Canada. Four tasks will be carried out in this paper: first, an assessment of the limitations of existing climatic data used for pavement structural design will be performed; second, an overview of the pavement design methods and their climatic inputs will be presented; third, the impacts of climate change on pavement performance will be assessed, and forth, an example will be performed to illustrate the incorporation of the climate change parameters in the design procedure of AASHTO 93, following the proposed methodology. The climatic inputs to be evaluated are temperature, precipitation, permafrost thawing, and freeze-thaw cycles. This study aims not only to provide guidelines for flexible pavement design but also to raise public awareness by engaging government and stakeholders across the country.