EQUIVALENT AXLE LOADS FOR PAVEMENT DESIGN

ONE SIGNIFICANT MEANS FOR EVALUATING THE RELATIVE DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF REPETITIVE VEHICULAR LOADING ON HIGHWAY PAVEMENTS IS THE EQUIVALENT AXLE LOAD CONCEPT. TO APPLY THIS CONCEPT TO DESIGN SITUATIONS, PROPER METHODS MUST BE AVAILABLE FOR MAKING VALID PREDICTIONS OF EQUIVALENT AXLE LOADS FOR DESIGN THAT ARE BASED ON DATA GLEANED FROM TRAFFIC VOLUME COUNTS, VEHICLE CLASSIFICATION STUDIES, AND LOADOMETER SURVEYS. THIS PAPER REPORTS ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF SUCH A PREDICTIVE METHOD FOR RURAL HIGHWAYS IN KENTUCKY. THE PROBLEM WAS TREATED AS THREE SEPARATE BUT INTERRELATED PARTS: (A) DEVELOPMENT OF A PROPER METHODOLOGY AND IDENTIFICATION OF PERTINENT TRAFFIC PARAMETERS, (B) IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT LOCAL CONDITIONS THAT SERVE AS INDICATORS OF THE COMPOSITION AND WEIGHTS OF THE TRAFFIC STREAM, AND (C) DEVELOPMENT OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE TRAFFIC PARAMETERS AND THE LOCAL CONDITIONS. PERCENTAGES OF THE VARIOUS VEHICLE TYPES AND THE AVERAGE EQUIVALENT AXLE LOADS PER VEHICLE WERE SELECTED AS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC PARAMETERS. THESE WERE EMPIRICALLY RELATED BY MULTIPLE REGRESSION AND OTHER TECHNIQUES TO THE SET OF LOCAL CONDITIONS, WHICH INCLUDED ROAD TYPE, DIRECTION, AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY OF ALTERNATE ROUTES, TYPE OF SERVICE PROVIDED, TRAFFIC VOLUME, MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE GROSS WEIGHT, GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, AND SEASON. THE RESULTANT METHODOLOGY WAS JUDGED TO BE SUFFICIENTLY ACCURATE, SIMPLE, REASONABLE, AND USABLE TO SATISFY THE PROBLEM REQUIREMENTS. IT IS RECOMMENDED FOR USE, HOWEVER, ONLY WHEN VALID, LONG-TERM VEHICLE CLASSIFICATION AND WEIGHT DATA ARE UNAVAILABLE FOR THE ROUTE UNDER INVESTIGATION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/291/291-011.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Theory of Pavement Design and presented at the 48th Annual Meeting.Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Deacon, John A
  • Deen, Robert C
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 133-142
• Monograph Title: Design, evaluation, and performance of pavement systems
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 291
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accelerated tests; Axle load force; Loadometers; Pavement design; Repeated loads; Rural highways; Traffic counting; Traffic volume
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00205778
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 9 1970 12:00AM