Pavement design is a fundamental stage in the planning and design of road and airport infrastructures. Its objective is to define the pavement structure – materials, number of layers, and their respective thicknesses – in order to ensure that the roadway can withstand traffic and climatic actions throughout its service life, guaranteeing adequate levels of safety, durability, comfort, and cost-efficiency [1].
A technically sound pavement design has a direct impact on:
- The service life of the pavement
- Construction and maintenance costs
- The structural and functional performance of the roadway
- The environmental sustainability of the project
A technically demanding process
Pavement design involves the analysis of a wide range of factors, including:
- Characteristics and expected evolution of traffic
- Climatic and environmental conditions
- Mechanical properties of paving materials
- Applicable standards and calculation methodologies
- Design and maintenance strategies throughout the life cycle
Traditionally, this process is carried out using iterative trial-and-error methods, relying on partial calculation tools and requiring significant manual intervention by the designer. In large-scale projects or those with tight deadlines, this approach may limit the number of solutions analysed and hinder the identification of truly optimized solutions.
The evolution of pavement design with advanced digital tools
The introduction of advanced digital tools has transformed the way pavement design is performed. These solutions make it possible to:
- Automate a large part of the structural calculation
- Quickly evaluate multiple design alternatives
- Integrate structural, economic, and constructability criteria
- Support technical decisions with greater rigor and efficiency
Within this context, Inpav Design emerges as a software suite specifically developed to support the designer throughout the entire pavement design process.
The role of Inpav Design in pavement design
Inpav Design was conceived to automate and optimize road pavement design, allowing engineers to focus on defining criteria and critically analysing solutions rather than on repetitive calculation tasks.
With Inpav Design, it is possible to:
- Define design criteria, materials, and calculation methodologies
- Automatically analyse hundreds of structural solutions
- Assess the structural performance of each solution
- Compare solutions based on technical, economic, and constructability criteria
- Select the solution that best meets the project objectives
The software integrates modules dedicated to traffic analysis, climatic data processing, structural calculation, and the generation of design documentation, enabling a coherent, integrated, and technically rigorous approach [2].
Benefits for the designer and for the project
The use of tools such as Inpav Design in pavement design results in clear benefits:
- Significant reduction in design time
- Improved technical quality of the solutions
- Better substantiation of design decisions
- Life-cycle cost optimization
- Greater consistency between different sections and adopted solutions
By supporting the designer from the initial conception phase through to the selection of the final solution, Inpav Design contributes to a more efficient, sustainable pavement design aligned with current road engineering requirements.
[1] N. Verdelho Trindade, “Solutions for the full automation of road pavement design,” in Proc. 7th Portuguese Road Congress, art. 85, Centro Rodoviário Português, Lisbon, Portugal, 2013. [Online]. Available: https://crp.pt/index.php/eventos/7o-congresso-rodoviario-portugues/
[2] N. Verdelho Trindade, “Advanced digital tools for road pavement design and their role in optimizing the design of conventional structures,” in Proc. 8th Portuguese Road Congress, art. 41, Centro Rodoviário Português, Lisbon, Portugal, 2016. [Online]. Available: https://crp.pt/index.php/eventos/8o-congresso-rodoviario-portugues/