General

The following controls, located on the Input -> Simulation Parameters Page, are used to specify general parameters associated with the Mechanistic-Empirical simulation.

General simulation controls:

•Starting Date - the date when the road is opened to traffic is entered. This may be a planned date in the future or a historical date if the program is used for "back casting", where the past performance is simulated in order to test the validity of the prediction models for a rehabilitation design.

•Simulation Duration - this is a readonly field which shows the length of time (in years) for the simulation. This value is set on the ME Design Page. The default value for this is the Design Life set on the Project Information Page. The Simulation Duration is reset whenever you make a change to the Design Life.

•Vehicle Speed - the wheel speed is used in the asphalt temperature calculation 

The question mark in the blue circle in the upper-right of the control group allows you to get help on the controls (this topic).