Abstract Manager

Pavement temperature is considered as one of the essential environmental loading parameters that control pavement performance distresses. In the superior performing asphalt pavements (Superpave) system, the selection of Performance Grade (PG) of asphalt binder are governed by two extremes of high and low pavement temperatures. This presenation shows the development and application of a new computer software titled Climate Adaptation and Asphalt Selection Tool (CAAST). CAAST utilizes projected climate change temperature data for cities across Canada by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) using Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM), version 4, from 1950 to 2100.  In this study, Superpave PG results obtained from ECCC’s projected temperature data via CAAST software were compared and analyzed against the Long-Term Pavement Performance Bind Online (LTPPBind) with the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) data. Analysis of projected ambient air temperature ECCC data using CAAST showed that the Mean Annual Lowest Air Temperature (MALAT) for cities in Atlantic, Central, Prairies, Western and Northern Canada are 75, 42, 25, 35 and 23 percent higher than MERRA-2, respectively. Also, ECCC data via CAAST showed that Mean Annual Degree Days (MADD) for cities in the Atlantic, Central, Prairies, Western and Northern Canada are 241, 86, 45, 74 and 191percent higher than those of MEERA-2, respectively. Findings using ECCC via CAAST for the next 25 years suggest that climate change can induce higher upgrades in high and low PG grades than MERRA-2 via LTPPBind. This indicated that low-temperature cracking would be less problematic compared to high-temperature problems such as rutting.

Overall, the application of the CAAST with embedded projected air temperature data revealed an effective solution to support resilience PG binders given climate change relative to traditional approaches relying on historical climate.