RELIABILITY IN PAVEMENT DESIGN? WHO'S KIDDING WHOM?

There is considerable divergence of opinion among members of the pavement community about the various aspects of reliability in the pavement design process. Additional considerations have plagued the author while using the original work in Texas for 18 years. Confidence level, life cycle reliability, the consequences of failure, the 1986 AASHTO design guide, and reliability and the pavement type selection process are discussed, followed by a summary.