Use of neural networks in the prediction of bearing capacity of pavement structures

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT: Roads have formed the basic infrastructure of commerce. There is an increasing growth of road transportation nowadays in the modern world. Roadways are very large, in volume, in extent, and in value. They deteriorate over time primarily due to accumulated damage from vehicles. Pavements are designed for an expected service life and require some form of maintenance before they come to the end of their service life. The increasing complexity of road transportation need advanced techniques for effective pavement design and maintenance of roads. An intelligent technique based on Artificial Neural Networks is applied for the prediction of bearing capacity of road pavement structures under different loading conditions.