“Granular Pavements — Geomechanics’ Lost Child”

The central theme of this paper is that pavement technology is without a behavioural model for unbound granular pavements. Some very weighty questions about transport efficiency, load limits and pavement asset protection cannot be addressed because of this. It is argued that the basis for a suitable model is likely to be found within geomechanics. The paper gives a brief summary of current design methods and of the conventional understanding of pavement behaviour and as well provides insights into alternative understandings of material behaviour and appropriate directions for pavement research.