Low Volume Road Pavement Design: A Review of Practice in the Upper Midwest

The objective of this report is to present a synthesis of low volume road pavement design with an emphasis on how it is practiced in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Several low volume road design methods are presented representing a range in approaches from empirical to mechanistic-empirical. The design procedures presented will also vary from those globally applicable to those which were developed for specific climatic regions. Finally, a review of local design practice in Minnesota will be given. Factors in pavement design are materials (subgrade, subbase and base), environment (temperature, frost and rainfall) and traffic.