Draft Research Results Digest: Changes to the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide Software Through Version 0.900, July 2006

Click here to  DOWNLOAD ME-PDG Version 1.00

ME-PDG Version 1.0 requires updated Climatic files from version 0.910 or later, which can be download here. Updated Hourly Climatic Data. 

Check back regularly for updates to the ME-PDG.  As new features are added and bugs fixed updates and patches to the software will be posted as they become available.

The online version of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (ME-PDG) is available to anyone with Internet access who has an interest in evaluating the guide and software. The pavement design guide is provided in an Adobe PDF format that is read-only, non-save, non-printable, and non-editable. The software can be downloaded for installation on a local drive in executable form, but its copy-protection feature requires access to the Internet to check for a specific file on the Transportation Research Board web server at each use. Certain supporting technical reports from Project 1-37A are available online in an unrestricted PDF format. This version will expire when the guide and software are available from AASHTO or at another time determined by NCHRP. NCHRP may revise this version as necessary and provide updates on the Internet.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT 
The FHWA Design Guide Implementation Team has established the NCHRP 1-37A (Mechanistic-Empirical) Design Guide Community of Practice website to provide a central forum for user dialogue on the design guide and software. These submissions will also be regularly reviewed for possible response or appropriate action by FHWA, NCHRP, its technical support contractors, and the AASHTO JTFP. 

END-USER SUPPORT
Under contract with NCHRP, Applied Research Associates Inc. Transportation,  is available for a limited time period to assist end users with installation of the guide and software from the CD-ROM or Internet and navigating the user interface of the software. If support is required, contact Gregg Larson, at (217) 356-4500.

COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, AND PROGRAM ERROR (“BUG”) REPORTS
Program error (“bug”) reports, and user comments and suggestions on the design guide and software may be sent by email to NCHRP or by fax to Ed Harrigan at (202) 334-2006. All submissions will be reviewed by NCHRP, its technical support contractors, the AASHTO JTFP, and FHWA, and will be either immediately resolved or evaluated for possible inclusion in periodic updates planned for the guide and software.

To view and report current ME-PDG bugs and known problems visit

http://mantis.ara-tracker.com/login_page.php

terms and Conditions of Use for CD-ROM and Online Versions

INTRODUCTION
This distribution of the ME-PDG developed in NCHRP Project 1-37A is made in the interest of information exchange, and for the purposes of introducing the design guide and software to the pavement design and engineering community and encouraging their thorough evaluation by a wide range of potential end users in the public and private sectors.

The ME-PDG is a research product, subject to change without notice, and is not intended for use in its present form by public or private sector organizations for routine pavement design or for any commercial purpose. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies , the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program assume no liability for the contents of the ME-PDG or use thereof.

CD-ROM VERSION
Initial distribution of the CD-ROM version of the ME-PDG is as follows: 

• State Departments of Transportation

• Members of the AASHTO Joint Task Force on Pavements (JTFP)

• Members of NCHRP Panels 1-37 and 1-40

• Federal Highway Administration

• National Asphalt Pavement Association and American Concrete Pavement Association

Due to its copy-protection feature, the CD-ROM must remain in the CD drive for the software to operate. While this version will not expire, it may be superseded by newer versions available in the future from NCHRP. 

INSTALLATION
To install ME-PDG on your computer, extract the files included in the mepdg.zip file to a temporary directory. Either run the setup.exe program from the temporary directory or by right clicking on the dg2002.msi file and selecting install.  It is recommended that the software be installed in the c:\DG2002 directory.

There are two modes that this software can operate in. The first is NCHRP Sponsor mode.  To operate in NCHRP sponsor mode, the installation NCHRP Sponsor CD-ROM must remain in the CD-ROM drive. The other operation mode is the on-line mode. In the on-line mode, the computer with the ME-PDG software installed must be connected to the internet to operate. The on-line version of the software retrieves it's license key from a web server located at http://www.trb.org/. At some date in the future, this license key may be invalidated. Other than the method the software license is validated, both versions are identical.

The files included with this CD-ROM may be copied to another CD-ROM disk by copying all of the files except the sponsor.dat file. This action creates an on-line version of the software.  Copying the sponsor.dat file is not permitted. The sponsor.dat file contains the license key for the sponsored version of the software and may not be copied or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD FILE (zipped file size 56 MG) 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SPONSORSHIP
This work was sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, and was conducted in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council.

DISCLAIMER
This is the final draft as submitted by the research agency. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied in the report are those of the research agency. They are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.