This Manual provides a comprehensive guideline to be followed by engineering consultants for pavement design for new roadway and final stage pavement construction, including reconstruction and widening, and rehabilitation. Engineering consultants are responsible for the surfacing strategy and detailed structural pavement design on roadway design project assignments. For the purposes of this Manual, pavement refers to all layers of the pavement structure above the subgrade. An objective of the Manual is to ensure a degree of consistency in designs provided by engineering consultants by following specific structural design methodologies within a general framework. At the same time the design process provides sufficient flexibility to allow for the judgement and innovation by experienced pavement design engineers to address the specific conditions of each project.
Alberta Transportation and Utilities (AT&U) will continue to be the custodian of all pavement evaluation, management and inventory data. These data will be available for use by engineering consultants. AT&U=s role in the design process will be to review pavement designs provided by consultants for completeness, conformance to the design philosophies and methodologies outlined in the Manual, and to ensure that the design is supported by appropriate engineering investigation and evaluation.