Routine Mechanistic Pavement Design against Frost Heave

A mechanistic approach is used to predict frost heave as a function of climate, subgrade soil properties and pavement design. This is part of the ministère des Transports du Québec's (MTQ) pavement design software and standards. The model and its implementation are presented. It is based on the concept of the segregation potential, and on the thermal balance at the freezing front. Material property variables and models are also embedded for automatic calculation of thermal conductivities, latent heat and other important material parameters. Year to year climatic variability may be considered through a statistical approach. The software has been successfully validated against field measurements and a sensitivity study has been done. A maximum frost heave criterion, based on actual data and experience, is used as threshold design criteria. The program is widely used in practice in the province of Québec.