National Pavement Design Method (MeDiNa) applied to rehabilitation and restoration: a literature review

Abstract

The poor condition of Brazilian highways is primarily attributed to traffic exceeding the designed capacity, overloading, and the use of an empirical design method from the 1960s. Pavement rehabilitation or restoration designs are generally carried out using outdated standards (DNER PRO 11/79 and DNER PRO 269/94). In response to this situation, the National Pavement Design Method (MeDiNa) emerged, which is a software accompanied by two other calculation routines and uses the mechanistic-empirical concept. This paper aims, based on a literature review, to evaluate the Brazilian scientific approach to pavement restoration/rehabilitation using the MeDiNa method. Through a systematic search in a database, a low number of papers that used the method was identified, and only 20 % of these articles performed reinforcement calculations, which does not align with the demand and defects presented in the Brazilian road network. Additionally, emerging trends on the topic were outlined through a bibliometric analysis. Furthermore, syntheses of the papers on rehabilitation or restoration found in the systematic search, as well as those from complementary literature, were conducted to situate the reader concerning the issue. Finally, points for improvement and the need for further research were identified, such as the investigation of results from backanalysis and interlayer bonding. The conclusion is that MeDiNa, still in the implementation phase, has great scientific potential to be explored, which will help validate this method.