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 will host a webinar on Thursday, March 19, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM Eastern that will introduce the concepts needed to complete a design and highlight how agencies are applying them to design perpetual highway asphalt pavements. Presenters will also share how one agency developed an experimental plan to support the construction of perpetual airfield asphalt pavement.
This webinar is sponsored by TRB’s Standing Technical Committee on Asphalt Pavement Design and Construction.
The registration fee is $100. Purchase a webinar package for discounted pricing. Complimentary registration is available for employees of TRB sponsors, standing technical committee chairs, involved CRP panel members, media, congressional staff, and TRB or National Academies staff. Visit MyTRB.org for details.
A recording will be sent to all registrants after the webinar.
 
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 will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.
 
Learning Objectives
At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• 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
Professional engineers (PEs) who register and attend the entire webinar as an individual will be awarded 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). TRB’s webinar program awards PDH credits only to the registered individual, and not to other members of a group that view the webinar together. To be eligible for the credits, individuals must remain signed in for the entire webinar, including for any question and answer session following the presentations.
This webinar will be delivered as a scheduled – e-learning live event and is categorized within RCEP as Technical, Health and Safety.
Please check with your licensing board to ensure that TRB webinar PDHs are approved by your board.
TRB will report credits earned to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Complaints about registered providers may be sent to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005.
 
Pre-registration is required. Once the webinar starts, you will be unable to register. Individuals that are registered for a webinar but do not receive their confirmation emails due to their organization’s internal firewalls should contact TRB Helpdesk for assistance in signing in.
View our FAQ page for more information.
Registration questions? Contact TRB webinar program.