Patent ID: 8280697

Claim:
A computer-based method of optimizing a concrete pavement design for a given section of road, the pavement design comprised of a plurality of specific sections of pavement, comprising: executing a program on a processor to customize the pavement design, including, for each of the plurality of specific sections of pavement: estimating a level of traffic for a specific section of pavement; estimating one or more environmental conditions affecting the section of pavement; determining characteristic properties of the section subgrade; developing a concrete system for the section of pavement, including selecting a thickness for the concrete system, based on the level of traffic, the one or more environmental conditions, and the section subgrade; predicting the performance of the concrete system; determining the costs of the concrete system, including an initial installation cost for the concrete system and an initial lifetime rehabilitation cost for the concrete system; and optimizing the pavement design based on the plurality of specific sections of pavement, including the system thickness, performance and costs of the concrete system for each specific section of pavement, to create an optimized pavement design for the given section of road, such optimizing including comparing the initial installation cost and the initial lifetime rehabilitation cost for the concrete system for a specific section of pavement with installation costs and lifetime rehabilitation costs for one or more alternative concrete systems for the specific section of pavement and adjusting the concrete system for the specific section of pavement, including the system thickness, to achieve an optimized installation cost and an optimized lifetime rehabilitation cost for the concrete system for the specific section of pavement that satisfies a particular customer application; wherein the optimized concrete pavement design balances the costs and the performance of the concrete system for each of the plurality of specific sections of pavement such that the concrete system for at least one specific section of pavement has a different system thickness from concrete systems for other specific sections of pavement in the plurality of specific sections of pavement along the given section of road.