Abstract
The high-performance SMA was incorporated in the design procedure of the MLIT Hokkaido Development Bureau in 2016 and has been widely used mainly in arterial high-standard highways. However, although the high-performance SMA ensures traveling safety, it is necessary to improve the durability further because the pavement maintenance and recondition budget decreased largely compared with that of 20 years ago. Improvement of the durability to extend the life of pavement is becoming a social need. Therefore, this study, as a part of studies aiming at the improvement of the durability of high-performance SMA, clarified the relationship of durability and road surface texture when changing the aggregate gradation of the high-performance SMA. Moreover, the indicator to determine the road surface texture (MPD: mean profile depth) required to ensure the traveling safety function was aimed to be established by the study. As a result, it was found that 1) the mixing rate for the high-durability of the high-performance SMA causes the MPD to decrease, which may lead to degradation of traveling safety, 2) traveling safety can be ensured even if the MPD is decreased to 0.5 - 0.7 mm.
