Set-up for establishing residual service-life monitoring of bearing capacity and road design of Dutch highways

In order to specify possible weaknesses in the pavement and road design in relation to future changes in traffic, transport and climate change, Rijkswaterstaat will conduct a nationwide research of the bearing capacity and pavement design of its highways. A large fraction of the Dutch highway network was constructed in 1960-1970s. Since then the pavement area increased from 20% to 80% of its current area (approx. 85 km²). One of the challenges is maintaining the Dutch Primary Road Network in optimal condition and guarantee safe and unhindered passage of traffic and goods. Hence, Rijkswaterstaat has started a large research project inventorying the maintenance challenges in the period 2020-2030. This research is a multiannual project. Its goals are assessing the current state of the Dutch highways (bearing capacity and risks of smaller culverts), plus anticipating to the effects of climate change and traffic intensities/loads in the coming decade. This paper informs on the background, setup of the research, our collaboration with international partners and the primary results of employing in-motion deflectometers on the Dutch Primary Road Network. Furthermore it presents the research programme and planning in the period 2016-2019.