New Protection Technique for Flexible Pavement Structure

This paper concerns the development of a new protection technique to improve simultaneously the waterproof or the impermeability, the thermal insulation, and the bearing capacity of flexible pavement structures. The technique consists on the introduction of a layered system composed of three different materials into the pavement structure, in this case: Foamglas material, XPE foam laminated Alufoil, and geotextile Terram 2000. The new protection technique is believed to limit frost penetration in the frost susceptible subgrade soil, reduce significantly road network damages associated to differential heaving and bearing capacity loss during seasonal temperature variations, restrict water infiltration, and thus reduce considerably the associated damage and the rehabilitation costs. Furthermore, a procedure was developed for the determination of the thicknesses different layers of the improved flexible pavement structure.