Análise das manifestações patológica e condição do pavimento flexível de um trecho de 2,0 km entre Monte Alegre/RN e São José de Mipibu/RN, com aplicação do Índice de Gravidade Global – IGG.

Abstract

Ensuring the quality of highways is essential for efficient and safe transportation, especially in Brazil, where road transport accounts for the majority of national transportation. However, many roads face structural problems that compromise their durability and service life. Pavement deterioration, caused by design flaws, use of inadequate materials, and lack of maintenance, requires an understanding of degradation processes in order to apply effective repair methods. Continuous maintenance is essential to extend the service life of pavements and reduce costs. This study aims to evaluate the pathological manifestations of asphalt pavement in a 2.0 km stretch of highway RN-002, using the Global Gravity Index (IGG) to analyze its condition. The stretch presents serious trafficability problems, affecting user access to the cities of Monte Alegre/RN and São José de Mipibu/RN. Factors such as heavy traffic of heavy vehicles and lack of maintenance contribute to the acceleration of road degradation. The study highlights the importance of ongoing maintenance and regular restoration to ensure highway safety and suggests investigations into the impacts of the identified pathologies, focusing on traffic conditions and economic effects. The pavement analysis, using the IGG, classified the road as "very poor" due to high degradation, indicating high restoration costs. If periodic maintenance had been carried out, the recovery costs would have been considerably lower. The study shows how the lack of maintenance contributed to the worsening of defects, increasing the complexity and costs of the restoration process. Therefore, it is recommended that appropriate restoration techniques be implemented to solve the identified problems and improve traffic conditions.