2023 - Australia - Austroads Road Deterioration Model Update: Cracking

This report documents a project designed to update the current Austroads road deterioration (RD) models using the long-term pavement performance and long-term pavement performance maintenance (LTPP/LTPPM) dataset and other data available, such as the traffic sped deflectometer (TSD) datasets, to improve these models’ explanatory power.

The cracking RD model documented in this report was based on a mechanistic-empirical, deterministic approach using a multi-variate non-linear regression (MVNLR) analysis. The cracking RD model uses cumulative cracking as the dependent variable for thinly surfaced flexible unbound granular pavements. The model was developed using the New South Wales dataset collected by the TSD from 2014 to 2018. The cracking RD model will need calibration to suit locally observed cracking conditions as location has a bearing on the rates of cracking progression.