Correction of air freezing index for pavement frost protection design to consider future climate changes

In cold regions, climate affects flexible pavement performance, such as frost heave. In the context of a changing climate, air freezing index can no longer be considered as fixed for pavement design. Climate simulations were performed for Quebec conditions to determine the evolution of the air freezing index over the coming decades. Using a relationship between average frost heave and the yearly roughness deterioration rate and a proposed method to consider decreasing air freezing index, the effect of climate change was quantified with respect to the 1971–2000 conditions. Thinner pavement structures are obtained with the calculation approach, and its effect was quantified in terms of materials and pavement life. It was shown that a reduction of 100 mm could be considered for pavements built on frost sensitive soils. In addition, the proposed method showed an increase of pavement life, quantified with roughness, for most of the cases considered.