LIFE CYCLE ANALYSIS OF LONG LASTING PAVEMENTS CONSTRUCTION IN INDIA: DESIGN CONVENTIONAL FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT AND INDIAN ROAD CONGRESS GUIDELINES FOR THE PERPETUAL

Road transport is vital to India's economy. It enables the country's transportation sector tocontribute 4.7 percent towards India's gross domestic product, in comparison to railways thatcontributed 1 percent, in 2009-2010. Road transport has not gained in importance over the yearsdespite significant barriers and inefficiencies in inter-state freight and passenger movementcompared to railways and air. The government of India considers road network as critical to thecountry's development, social integration and security needs of the country. Indian roads arehighly deteriorated due to high fatigue and rutting in flexible pavements. A perpetual pavementis a possible solution for this, Perpetual Pavement is a flexible pavement designed from thebottom up to resist structural failure, minimize cracking and rutting, and last for 50 years or morewith only periodic renewal of the wearing surface. If the tensile strain caused by the traffic in thebituminous layer is less than 70 micro strains, and if the vertical strain in the subgrade is lessthan 200 micro strains, the bituminous layer never cracks.