Abstract: This study uses the periodic surveys of the degradation of Guinea's paved roads from the country's Road Database. Processing the data from five representative sections shows that these structures suffer recurrent degradation, often located at the same places on the roads. These degradations are mainly manifested by deformations of the pavement, marked by collapses and pronounced ruts. Simulations with the Alize software show that the causes of these disorders are mainly related to problems of the evolutionary bearing capacity of the lateritic support soil between dry and wet periods. This parameter is apparently not yet well integrated into current methods of pavement design in tropical climates. This work can therefore be used to initiate new studies of the mechanical and dimensional behaviour of lateritic materials according to climatic cycles and of the improvements that can be made to them by treatments with hydraulic binders in particular.
Keywords: laterites, pavements, diagnosis, degradation, dimensioning.
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