Committee Chair

Onyango, Mbakisya

Committee Member

Owino, Joseph; Fomunung, Ignatius; Wu, Weidong

Department

Dept. of Civil and Chemical Engineering

College

College of Engineering and Computer Science

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) addresses climate effects on pavement design in a comprehensive way, which allows for investigating the effect of climate inputs on pavement performance. However, it requires detailed climate inputs, which might not be available for most of the state DOT. The Updated AASHTOWare climate database encompasses twelve stations in the state of Tennessee, which might not well represent all climatic regions in the state of Tennessee. This study compares and evaluates the performance of pavements in Tennessee using Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and the updated AASHTOWare databases as a source of MEPDG climate data inputs. A comparative analysis between these two climate data sources using eight LTPP sites in Tennessee was conducted. It was found that using MERRA as a climate data source for the state of Tennessee will offer better geographic coverage and therefore more precise distress predictions are expected.

Acknowledgments

Before all, I thank Allah for leading me throughout my journey of study and easing my way toward this accomplishment. I would first like to thank my advisor Dr. Mbakisya Onyango. Her door was always open whenever I had any question about my research or writing. She consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right the direction whenever she thought I needed it. I would also like to thank Prof. Joseph Owino, Prof. Ignatius Fomunung, and Dr. Weidong Wu. Without their help, guidance and input, this study could not have been successfully conducted. Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my friends for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

12-2017

Subject

Pavements -- Performance; Pavements -- Climatic factors

Keyword

MEPDG; MERRA; Climate

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

xii, 60 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Date Available

1-1-2019

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