Efficient National Road Design Using the Korean Pavement Design Guide

The aim of this study was to realize efficient designing and maintenance of national highways using design class 2. The service performance (rutting, fatigue cracking, and roughness) was compared and analyzed using the Korean Pavement Design Guide. A total of 162 analyses were performed using three traffic volumes, nine pavement cross-section thicknesses, two types of asphalt binders, and three types of asphalt mixtures. The analysis conditions were set using the design input variables primarily applied in domestic road design. For a single variable, increasing the traffic volume led to fatigue cracking and roughness. Thickness modulation of the base course emerged as an efficient approach to minimize fatigue cracking, whereas adjusting the thicknesses of the surface and intermediate courses inhibited permanent deformation and roughness. In addition, combining the two analysis elements was an efficient method to improve the service performance for pavement maintenance. Based on these results, the recommended order of adjustments is—adjusting the asphalt binder grade, followed by the asphalt mixture type.