General information on the French approach to pavement design

In 1971, the French Road Directorate decided to use a catalog of pre-calculated, tried-and-tested structures to guide departments in their choice of pavement structures for the national road network, freeing them from the need to carry out calculations. This principle was subsequently maintained, right up to the most recent edition of the catalog of structures, dated 1998. It has also been adopted by many other countries.

It is worth recalling the opinion of its promoters on this subject, as set out in the article in the September-October 1972 liaison bulletin cited in the bibliography: "The presentation in the form of structural data sheets makes it easy to update to take account of observations made on existing pavements, the marketing of new materials or combinations of materials, and any theoretical progress that may be made.... The engineer, thus freed of unnecessary...