ABSTRACT

Traffic loading is considered one of the main factors contributing to pavement deterioration. Large illegal loads in the form of vehicles traveling with axle loads above the permissible legal limits and/or overall overweight magnify the traffic impact on the performance of pavements. These overloads contribute to the deterioration of pavement sections which leads to substantial maintenance and repair costs. This paper illustrates an example of an approach to determine the effect of both normal and overweight loads on the performance of rigid pavements using the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) traffic data. The traffic load was evaluated by estimating the legal and illegal ESALs related to both fatigue and erosion damage by visual observation and by field-assessment of the degree of bonding based using the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD). The illustrated example utilized LTPP data from nine Jointed Plain Concrete (JPC) pavement sites with different traffic mixes. This study reveals that the damage in JPC pavements could be either (i) visible by the formation of transverse cracking as would be related to fatigue related ESALs or/and (ii) invisible by the reduction of the effective thickness as would be related to erosion ESALs.

摘要

交通荷载被认为是导致路面恶化的主要因素之一。以超过允许的法律限制和/或整体超重的轴载荷行驶的车辆形式的大量非法载荷放大了交通对路面性能的影响。这些超载导致路面部分的劣化，从而导致大量的维护和维修成本。本文举例说明了使用长期路面性能 (LTPP) 交通数据确定正常和超重载荷对刚性路面性能影响的方法示例。通过目视观察和使用落锤挠度计 (FWD) 对结合程度的现场评估，估算与疲劳和侵蚀损伤相关的合法和非法 ESAL，从而评估交通载荷。图示示例使用了来自九个具有不同交通组合的接缝素混凝土 (JPC) 路面站点的 LTPP 数据。这项研究表明，JPC 路面的损坏可能是 (i) 与疲劳相关的 ESAL 相关的横向裂缝的形成可见，或/和 (ii) 与侵蚀相关的有效厚度减少不可见ESAL。