AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE IN FULL-SCALE PAVEMENT TESTING USING THE ACCELERATED LOADING FACILITY

The purpose of this paper is to briefly describe the Accelerated Loading Facility (ALF) machine and to summarise the aims, findings and benefits of the six trials conducted to date and the aims and expected outputs of the current trial and the next trial which is not due to be completed until March 1993. Since July 1984, six trials have been completed in four Australian states, during which 78 experiments have been conducted and 13 million load cycles (157 million ESAs) have been applied to 31 pavement types at 65 test sites. The types of pavements tested include heavy duty unbound crushed rock and macadam pavements, cement-treated crushed rock pavements, unbound and stabilised slag pavements, asphalt overlay and rehabilitation treatments including modified binders, and full depth asphalt pavements. Future trials will include testing of geotextile seal, gravel, fine-grained and bitumen-emulsion stabilised pavements. Some comments are also offered in the paper on the results of the FORCE study and how the extensive work already conducted in Australia, and planned for the future, could contribute to this study.