Debre Markose-Merawi Asphalt Road (220km) found in northwestern part of Ethiopia. Being a trunk road, part of the road connecting Addis Ababa to Khartoum, it was designed in 1998 for the expected cumulative traffic of around 6.8million for 20years. However, in sections from Amanuel to Bure, the road critically failed in some stations below the expected design period. To asses this, review of previous studies on the area, determination of geotechnical properties of sub grade, sub base and base course of disturbed samples, classifying and associating them with the design and construction recommendations in ERA 2013 design manual, and evaluation of the materials quality utilized as per ERA 2013 and/or AASHTO design manuals was done. Additionally, in order not to bring all failures to geotechnical and bias the results, asphalt pavement also examined and evaluated. Finally, new findings compared with the results of previous studies. As a result, it has been concluded that, at failed sections, there is significant difference between the geotechnical characteristics of the soil and the standard of geotechnical characteristics set in ERA 2013 design manual. Highly expansive foundation from 358km up to 362km and around 386km from Addis Ababa, found the major cause of failure around. Poor drainage and higher amount of traffic loading than expected in initial design also found. Thus, the study concludes that poor drainage, geotechnical characteristics of sub grade, embankment and pavement materials, and excess traffic loading are the causal factor of failure. Accordingly, it has been recommended that during maintenance, geotechnical characteristics of materials should take into consideration and enlisted during planning of highway maintenance.