Since 1958, most of the world’s countries including Turkey depend on the Empirical
Pavement Design Method established by AASHO (which is now known as AASHTO).
The limitation of the data used for preparing AASHTO 1993 and Non-Mechanical Based
procedure are the main reasons for the needs of new design procedure. The new AASHTO
design procedure MEPDG has been established in 2002 and adopted by most of the states
in the USA which is based on Mechanistic-Empirical (M-E) principles. The aim of this
paper is to prepare a plan for the implementation of MEPDG in TURKEY starting with
Third Region. The plan consists of two stages. Stage one is concerned with data collection
and preparing of input files. This stage is subdivided into three tasks namley, Climate File,
Material File and Traffic File. Stage two is associated with the use of the files prepared
in Stage one to conduct studies using MEPDG software. These studies are recommended
by AASHTO to evaluate the applicability of the procedure and the recommended
enhancements. The studies of this stage are: (a) Sensitivity Analysis of MEPDG to Design
Inputs; (b) Comparison of specific Third Region Designs with MEPDG designs; and (c)
Calibration of Performance Models for Third Region in Turkey. The outcomes of this
paper can be used as guidance for further studies on the implementation of MEPDG
in other Regions in Turkey. Also the results of these researches can be assembled to
implement the procedure for whole Turkey.