Accelerated load testing (ALT) facilities like the LINTRACK are believed to be an essential tool in the development of improved performance models for asphalt pavements. It should however be realized that even such facilities are only capable of modelling real life conditions in a simple way. For that reason ALT studies undertaken in the Netherlands have the primary goal to improve response and damage models, which in turn can be used for performance predictions. This paper first describes the main features of the ALT studies performed in the Netherlands on a thick (150 mm) and thin (70 mm) asphalt pavement on a sand subgrade. These show that the current Dutch design model is unable to fully describe the behaviour of these pavements. Therefore, three suggested improvements to this design model are described:

1) Mix-wise prediction of fatigue characteristics for practical conditions from simple tests.

2) Calculation of strains and stresses using a linear visco-elastic multi-layer approach.

3) Modelling of the wheel load, using a rectangular, non-uniform three-dimensional distribution of contact stresses.