PAVEXpress — The Complete Guide: Online Pavement Thickness Design by AASHTO
PAVEXpress is an online pavement thickness design tool built with the support of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA). It designs flexible and rigid pavement sections following the 1993 AASHTO method and its 1998 supplement. Use is free and requires a free registration.
PAVEXpress
National Asphalt Pavement Association
Online pavement thickness design based on AASHTO methods.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Flexible pavement — asphalt layers, base and subgrade.
- Rigid pavement — concrete sections by the same method.
- Traffic input — loads and growth over the design period.
- Subgrade and materials — resilient modulus and layer coefficients.
- Summary report — to save and attach to the file.
What to know
The method and data are based on American conditions. AASHTO 1993 is a well-known, widely used empirical method, but on any project elsewhere the result must be checked against the binding local guidelines. The tool is very well suited to learning the method and to a quick check of a section.
Related tools
For concrete pavements by the ACPA method — Pavement Designer. For airport pavements — FAARFIELD. For your own calculations — Python.
Pavement Designer
American Concrete Pavement Association
Concrete pavement design from the American Concrete Pavement Association.
Get it from the vendor
FAARFIELD — Airport Pavement Design
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)
The FAA’s official thickness-design program for asphalt and concrete airport pavements.
Get it from the vendor
Python
Python Software Foundation
The language behind most modern engineering computation, and its full ecosystem.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
PAVEXpress is a quick, free way to design a pavement section by AASHTO — excellent for learning and preliminary checks.