Other Paving Methods

Cobbles

Pavers, generally in the form of pre-cast concrete blocks, are often used for aesthetic purposes, or sometimes at port facilities that see long-duration pavement loading. Pavers are rarely used in areas that see high-speed vehicle traffic.

Brick, cobblestone and wood plank pavements were once common in urban areas throughout the world, but due to their high manual labor requirements they are in some countries typically only maintained for historical reasons, while in other countries they are still common in local streets. They make maintenance of cabling and pipelines under the pavement easier but are also harder to walk on.

Likewise, macadam and tarmac pavements can still sometimes be found buried underneath asphalt concrete or Portland cement concrete pavements, but are rarely constructed anymore.

As pavement systems primarily fail due to fatigue (in a manner similar to metals), the damage done to pavement increases exponentially with the axle load of the vehicles traveling on it. Civil engineers consider truck axle load, current and projected truck traffic volume, supporting soil properties and sub-grade drainage in design. Passenger cars are considered to have no practical effect on a pavement’s service life.

Several pavement design methods have been developed to determine the thickness and composition of pavement required to carry predicted traffic loads for a given period of time. Pavement design methods are continuously evolving.

According to some road tests, heavily loaded trucks can do more than 10,000 times the damage done by a normal passenger car. Tax rates for trucks are higher than those for cars in most countries for this reason, though are not levied in proportion to the damage done.