Perpetual pavement adoption requires rethinking traditional asphalt pavement design. Unlike flexible pavements that are designed to fail through cracking or rutting after a certain traffic level, perpetual pavements are engineered to prevent fatigue cracking and structural rutting, limiting distresses to the surface layer where they can be renewed every 18 – 20 years. TRB hosted a webinar on Thursday, March 19, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern that introduced the concepts needed to complete a design and highlighted how agencies are applying them to design perpetual highway asphalt pavements. Presenters also shared how one agency developed an experimental plan to support the construction of perpetual airfield asphalt pavement.
This webinar was sponsored by TRB’s Standing Technical Committee on Asphalt Pavement Design and Construction.
The slides are available. 
 
Webinar agenda and presenters

• Perpetual pavement principles – David Timm, Auburn University
• How the Illinois tollway took perpetual pavements from theory to practice – Bill Vavrik, Applied Research Associates
• Perpetual pavements for airfields – Navneet Garg, Federal Aviation Administration 
• Question and answer session moderated by Buzz Powell, Asphalt Pavement Alliance

The first 60 minutes of the webinar were for presentations and the final 30 minutes were reserved for audience questions.
 
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, participants can:

• Describe key concepts required to complete a perpetual pavement design
• Apply perpetual pavement design principles to highway asphalt pavement projects
• Outline how an agency developed and implemented an experimental plan to construct a perpetual airfield asphalt pavement

 
Professional Development Hours
This webinar was delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.
Professional Development Hours (PDHs) earned on completion of this program were reported to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Certificates of Completion are issued to all participants via the RCEP.net online system. Complaints about registered providers may be addressed to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Fl., Washington, DC, 20005.