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We look forward to keeping you up to date on Pavement ME Design (PMED) news, and we encourage you to send us suggestions for articles to be included in upcoming editions of the newsletter. We plan to publish a newsletter each quarter. Enjoy!
- Clark Morrison, P.E.,
North Carolina DOT, Chairperson - Hari Nair, P.E., Virginia DOT, Co-Chairperson
- Patrick Bierl, P.E., Ohio DOT
- Felix Doucet, Eng., Quebec MOT
- Ian Rish, P.E. Georgia DOT
- Dulce Feldman, P.E. California Department of Transportation
- Kumar Dave, P.E., Indiana DOT
- Jeff Neal, P.E., Kansas DOT, SCOA Liaison
- Ryan Hilton, Washington State DOT, T&AA Liaison
- Susanne Chan, Eng., Ontario MOT, TAC Liaison
- Tom Yu, P.E., FHWA Liaison
- Ryan Fragapane,
AASHTO Project Manager
(202) 624-3632
Three additional webinars are scheduled for this fiscal year. The webinar topics are selected based on feedback from webinar poll question responses, user group meetings, and commonly asked questions. All previously held webinar recordings, presentations, and Q&A responses are available on the webinar page of the PMED website. The first webinar was held on October 20th, 2021 and focused on using reflection cracking control measures and their simulation in the PMED software. We’d like to thank everyone for attending the webinar. If you happened to miss it, the webinar recording, presentation, and question and answer session are available on the ME-design website.
The team is working hard on implementing the two significant enhancement activities for rigid pavements in FY 2022. A brief update on the enhancements are summarized below.
- Integrating the results from NCHRP 1-51 on the bonding and interaction between the PCC slab and base layer.
- The team is currently testing the revised JPCP cracking model within the PMED framework and will complete the initial testing towards the end of the year.
- Updating the global calibration for PCC pavements. No update to the global calibration for PCC pavements has been completed for some time. The recalibration for PCC pavements will be performed in conjunction with the integration of the revised models from the NCHRP 1-51 project. The recalibration will also use the MERRA climate data available through LTPP InfoPave.
- The team is currently analyzing the global calibration projects using version 2.6 to identify the differences in predictions.
The NCHRP 1-51 model integration and recalibrated PCC distress and performance models will be included in PMED Version 3.0 (Web Technology Application), so please stay tuned for updates on this topic in future e-Newsletters.
The development work for the next generation of the PMED software is progressing well. The team is excited to present a demonstration of PMED v3.0 at the AASHTO Pavement ME User Group meeting.
The Pavement ME Design team has delivered multiple demonstrations/webinars to different agencies in North America, as well as in other countries, over the past couple of years. If your agency is interested in hosting a virtual demonstration in using the software for design, you are encouraged to contact Mr. Ryan Fragapane, rfragapane@aashto.org | 202.624.3632.
Please send any questions or issues related to using the software to the ME Design website and/or contact the Help Desk Manager, Shobhit Mundra at http://me-design.com/MEDesign/Report.aspx, via email at pavementmedesign@ara.com, or phone 1-217-356-4500.
As a friendly reminder, the Pavement ME Design Task Force is continually taking action to improve the software and welcomes suggestions from users. Suggestions are reviewed and prioritized at each Pavement ME Design Task Force meeting. Submit suggestions to Ryan Fragapane or any Pavement ME Design Task Force member. Feature ideas may now also be submitted through the Pavement ME Design website at: http://me-design.com/MEDesign/Report.aspx
We want to remind you that there are many resources related to all aspects of Pavement ME Design. The MEPDG Clearinghouse is a great resource to see what research has been done by state highway agencies for implementing the Pavement ME Design. Some topics include, local calibration, input characterization, laboratory testing, traffic input collection and many, many, more. Please visit the ME Clearing house website to learn about the research that has been completed in recent years.
As a reminder, a new discussion forum location for PMED has been established at www.engineering.stackexchange.com. The software maintenance team has moved the existing Q&A over to the new site. If you have questions, please post them on the new site with the “pavement” tag.
ARA suggests posting any pavement engineering and/or Pavement ME Design questions on the site. This forum is for civil engineers interested in pavement design and provides a global community discussion for pavement design.
The AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design Product Task Force (PMED-TF) provides broad oversight and direction for the support, maintenance and enhancement of the software. AASHTOWare tries to maintain a balance of members from across the country to represent the diverse climate and soil conditions. For further information about the Pavement ME Design Product Task Force, please contact Ryan Fragapane, Associate Project Manager |rfragapane@aashto.org | 202.624.3632.
Shobhit Mundra
- pavementmedesign@ara.com
- Phone: (217) 356-4500
Other ARA Staff:
- Harold Von Quintus, P.E., | ARA Project Manager
- Chadwick Becker, | ARA Co-Project Manager
- Wouter Brink, Ph.D., | ARA Engineering Support
Service units are available for purchase through AASHTO for implementing and using the Pavement ME Design software package. Many state agencies have already purchased service units, and these agencies can contact AASHTO to redeem them for implementation support.
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