The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) provides the highway pavement design community with a new program for the design of flexible and rigid pavement structures using state-of-the-art mechanistic-empirical analyses and performance predictions. This report summarizes a research effort undertaken to assist the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) with the development of an implementation strategy that will ultimately allow the SCDOT to take advantage of the advanced pavement design procedures incorporated in the MEPDG software. The MEPDG presents a major shift in pavement design strategy and full implementation of the program will require significant time and resources. An overview of the MEPDG design features, input requirements, and distress prediction models are presented. A literature review including a review of other state highway agency's MEPDG activities is presented. The purpose of this review was to gain insights into MEPDG implementation strategies undertaken or planned at other agencies. Sensitivity analyses were performed to see how typical SCDOT flexible and rigid pavement structures are influenced by changes in selected input parameters. Finally, general recommendations for an SCDOT MEPDG implementation strategy are proposed.
","abstract_html":"<p>The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) provides the highway pavement design community with a new program for the design of flexible and rigid pavement structures using state-of-the-art mechanistic-empirical analyses and performance predictions. This report summarizes a research effort undertaken to assist the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) with the development of an implementation strategy that will ultimately allow the SCDOT to take advantage of the advanced pavement design procedures incorporated in the MEPDG software. The MEPDG presents a major shift in pavement design strategy and full implementation of the program will require significant time and resources. An overview of the MEPDG design features, input requirements, and distress prediction models are presented. A literature review including a review of other state highway agency's MEPDG activities is presented. The purpose of this review was to gain insights into MEPDG implementation strategies undertaken or planned at other agencies. Sensitivity analyses were performed to see how typical SCDOT flexible and rigid pavement structures are influenced by changes in selected input parameters. Finally, general recommendations for an SCDOT MEPDG implementation strategy are proposed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stires, Nicholas"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS","degree_level":"Campus Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"Civil and Environmental Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ronald Baus"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:43Z","subjects":["Civil and Environmental Engineering","Engineering"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2009, Nicholas Stires"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/97","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ronald Baus"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stires, Nicholas"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering","Engineering"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2009, Nicholas Stires"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/97"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) provides the highway pavement design community with a new program for the design of flexible and rigid pavement structures using state-of-the-art mechanistic-empirical analyses and performance predictions. This report summarizes a research effort undertaken to assist the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) with the development of an implementation strategy that will ultimately allow the SCDOT to take advantage of the advanced pavement design procedures incorporated in the MEPDG software. The MEPDG presents a major shift in pavement design strategy and full implementation of the program will require significant time and resources. An overview of the MEPDG design features, input requirements, and distress prediction models are presented. A literature review including a review of other state highway agency's MEPDG activities is presented. The purpose of this review was to gain insights into MEPDG implementation strategies undertaken or planned at other agencies. Sensitivity analyses were performed to see how typical SCDOT flexible and rigid pavement structures are influenced by changes in selected input parameters. Finally, general recommendations for an SCDOT MEPDG implementation strategy are proposed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Study of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide for South Carolina"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ronald Baus"],"dc:creator":["Stires, Nicholas"],"dc:description.abstract":["The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) provides the highway pavement design community with a new program for the design of flexible and rigid pavement structures using state-of-the-art mechanistic-empirical analyses and performance predictions. This report summarizes a research effort undertaken to assist the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) with the development of an implementation strategy that will ultimately allow the SCDOT to take advantage of the advanced pavement design procedures incorporated in the MEPDG software. The MEPDG presents a major shift in pavement design strategy and full implementation of the program will require significant time and resources. An overview of the MEPDG design features, input requirements, and distress prediction models are presented. A literature review including a review of other state highway agency's MEPDG activities is presented. The purpose of this review was to gain insights into MEPDG implementation strategies undertaken or planned at other agencies. Sensitivity analyses were performed to see how typical SCDOT flexible and rigid pavement structures are influenced by changes in selected input parameters. Finally, general recommendations for an SCDOT MEPDG implementation strategy are proposed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/97"],"dc:rights":["© 2009, Nicholas Stires"],"dc:subject":["Civil and Environmental Engineering","Engineering"],"dc:title":["A Study of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide for South Carolina"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Campus Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:36:43Z"}