Estimating Highway Pavement Damage Costs Attributed to Truck Traffic

Kansas is one of the leaders in meat production in the United States. In the southwest Kansas region, there are more than three hundred feed yards and several of the biggest meat processing plants in the nation. Heavy trucks (e.g., tractor-trailers) have been used primarily for transporting processed meat, meat byproducts, grain, and other related products. With the continuous growth of these industries, there will be more trucks on highways transporting meat and meat-related products in southwest Kansas. These trucks cause noteworthy damage to Kansas highway pavements, which in turn leads to more frequent maintenance actions and ultimately more traffic delays and congestion. The primary objective of this research was to estimate the highway damage costs attributed to the truck traffic associated with the processed meat (beef) and related industries in southwest Kansas. The researchers developed a systematic pavement damage estimation procedure that synthesized several existing methodologies including Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) methods. In this research project, the highway section of US 50/400 between Dodge City and Garden City in Kansas was selected and its pavement data were collected for analysis. Outcomes of this research will be beneficial for the selection of cost-effective transportation modes for the meat processing and related industries in southwest Kansas. It will also help government agents to assess highway maintenance needs and to set up maintenance priorities. Meanwhile, the analysis results will be valuable for the determination of reasonable user costs. Based on findings of this research, recommendations on the selection of transportation modes are provided and promising future research tasks are suggested as well.

• Record URL:
  http://www.iri.ku.edu/publications/HighwayDamageCosts.pdf
• 
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/34468
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Kansas, Lawrence

  Transportation Research Institute, 1530 W 15th Street
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045

  University of Nebraska, Lincoln

  Nebraska Hall
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68588-0500

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Bai, Yong
  • Schrock, Steven D
  • Mulinazzi, Thomas E
  • Hou, Wenhua
  • Liu, Chunxiao
  • Firman, Umar
• Publication Date: 2009-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 180p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost estimating; Costs; Freight transportation; Highway maintenance; Oversize loads; Overweight loads; Pavement distress; Tractor trailer combinations; Truck traffic; User charges
• Geographic Terms: Kansas
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; Pavements; I10: Economics and Administration; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01483474
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS, RITA, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jun 10 2013 9:56AM