AEC TECH NEWS: PaveXpress adds layered elastic analysis, costing modules

Lanham, Md. — PaveXpress, the free, web-based pavement design tool, has been updated to version 3.0 with new modules for estimating material costs and conducting a layered elastic analysis of a pavement structure. These new modules build on PaveXpress’s existing tools for designing new flexible and rigid pavements, as well as asphalt overlays for maintenance and rehabilitation. The update also includes an improved user experience, particularly on smaller screens, such as smartphones.

PaveXpress — www.PaveXpressDesign.com — creates technically sound pavement structural designs for flexible and rigid pavements based on widely accepted industry standards from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO). It is designed for use by local agencies, engineers, architects, consultants, and engineering students who need a reliable way to quickly determine the necessary pavement thickness for a new roadway or overlay, to estimate roadway materials costs for a project, or to analyze the stresses, strains, and deflections in a layered elastic system.

As with its pavement design and overlay modules, the new PaveXpress modules allow users to customize inputs to match locally calibrated data, while providing industry-accepted defaults where appropriate. Context-sensitive help and guidance tools are available at every step of the design process.

To introduce the new PaveXpress features to users, a webinar highlighting the tool’s capabilities will be hosted by the Asphalt Pavement Alliance on Nov. 4, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To register for the webinar, visit www.AsphaltPavement.org/Webinar. An additional webinar session will be held on Nov. 29, depending upon demand. One professional development hour (PDH) can be earned by attending the webinar.

PaveXpress is based upon design equations from the 1993 AASHTO Guide for the Design of Pavement Structures and the 1998 Supplement to the AASHTO Guide for the Design of Pavement Structures. It supports the design of new flexible and rigid roadway pavements, asphalt overlays, and heavy-duty asphalt parking lots. The new layered elastic analysis module is based upon the established Everstress mechanistic tool developed at the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Projects created in PaveXpress can be printed, shared, and saved, and design options can easily be evaluated in a side-by-side comparison. As a browser-based tool, PaveXpress can be accessed from any computer or mobile device, regardless of screen size or operating system.

Since its introduction in September 2014, there have been more than 15,000 registered users of PaveXpress, including users at state and federal departments of transportation, local agencies, tollway authorities, and educational institutions.