Traffic and Loading

When it comes to traffic, the pavement engineer is interested in axle loads, number of
load repetitions, the contact area and vehicle speed. The damaging effect from each axle
can be determined by use of equivalent loads. It is important to predict the future traffic
for use in design of the pavement. The contact area of the tyre is a function of the load,
tyre pressure tyre stiffness and tyre wear and is normally assumed to be circular. The
speed of the vehicle is important when considering the reaction/behaviour of the load
bearing material. Materials such as asphalt are known to be elasto-visco-plastic and their
behaviour is much dependent on temperature and loading time. For design purposes,
vehicles with 3,000 Kg and above of unladen weight are considered.

As for the traffic data, the following needs to be known by the pavement engineer:
Average Daily Traffic (ADT), Average Daily Truck Traffic (ADTT), Traffic mixture
(number of vehicles in each class), Average weight of the vehicles in each class and Lane
Distribution Factor. Two items of data are required concerning traffic loading; the
average speed of commercial vehicles and the cumulative number of standard axles for
the design life. The speed has to be estimated from knowledge of the road situation and
should err on the slow side if uncertainties exist, as this will produce a lower stiffness for
the asphalt.
 Wheel Load
a) Magnitude of wheel load and tyre pressure
The load from the wheel is transmitted to the pavement through the rubber tyres. The
wheel load from a rubber tyre is distributed on a large area, depending upon the tyre
pressure. The tyre pressures on commercial vehicles vary from 0.5 to 0.7 MN/m2 (70 - 100
psi). A value of 0.5 MN/m2 is typical. Tyre pressures are much more important in the
design of airfield pavements. A much higher tyre pressure, in the range between 1.0 and
1.5 MN/m2 (150 – 200 psi) is used in airfield design. The spacing of axles also affects the
stresses induced. Tandem axles are common on modern road transport vehicles. The
AASHO Road test has shown that an 18,000 lb single axle load is equivalent in its
damaging effect to a 32,000 lb tandem axle load. Similarly, a single load of 22,400 lbs had
about the same damaging effect as a 40,000 lb tandem axle load. Repetition of wheel loads
is very important in causing pavement distress. It is, therefore, necessary to select the
design and assess the total number of repetitions of axle loads during the pavement life.

b) Equivalent standard axle

A difficulty arises in assessing the number or repetitions of loads since the traffic consists
of a mixture of axle loads of varying magnitudes. Some vehicles are heavy while some
are not. Some have a large number of axles. The standard procedure to deal with this
problem is to express the traffic in terms of an equivalent number of standard axles. To
allow for comparison of the relative damaging effect of various axle loads, a standard
axle of 8.2 tons (18,000 lbs) was adopted following the AASHO Road Test conducted
between 1959 and 1960 in the USA. Other axle loads can be converted to equivalent
standard axles using the following approximate equation:
𝐷𝐿 𝐿 𝑛
𝐹𝑒𝑞 = [ ]=[ ]
𝐷8.2 8.2
Where;
𝐹𝑒𝑞 = Equivalent standard axle factor
𝐷𝐿 = measure of damage caused by an axle load L
𝐷8.2 = measure of damage caused by an axle load 8.2 tons
n = a factor which depends on the thickness of the pavement
For the factor n, the fourth power rule applies in causing structural damage (but n = 4.5
is used in Kenya). In some cases, a value of n=4 is used and an axle load of 8tons is
adopted. The rule can be stated thus: The structural damage caused by an axle load varies as
the fourth power-of its ratio to the standard axle load. Thus, the equivalence of a 120 kN axle
is:
120 4
𝐹=[ ] = 5.06
80
Example
The results of a one-day axle load survey of trucks on a road are tabulated in the table
below. Determine the number of repetitions of a standard 80 kN axle in a year.
Solution
The working is facilitated in a tabular form as in the table below
Weight Mid-point in Mid-point Number of 𝑳 𝟒 𝑳 𝟒
in tonnes in axles (N) [ ] [ ] ×𝑵
𝟖𝟎 𝟖𝟎
tonnes kN
1-2 1.5 15 14 0.0012 0.02
2-3 2.5 25 76 0.0095 0.72
3-4 3.5 35 77 0.0366 2.82
4-5 4.5 45 70 0.1001 7.01
5-6 5.5 55 28 0.2234 6.26
6-7 6.5 65 18 0.4358 7.84
7-8 7.5 75 10 0.7725 7.72
8-9 8.5 85 11 1.2744 14.02
9-10 9.5 95 11 1.9885 21.87
10-11 10.5 105 11 2.9675 32.64
11-12 11.5 115 12 4.2700 51.24
12-13 12.5 125 15 5.9605 89.41
13-14 13.5 135 7 8.1021 56.76
14-15 14.5 145 3 10.7922 32.38
15-16 15.5 155 1 14.0918 14.09
∑ = 364 ∑ = 344.8

Therefore, number of 80kN axles per year = 344.8 x 365 = 125,852.

The numerical problem solved above demonstrates that the axle loads which are small in
magnitude, say up to 3 tons, do not have any significant effect on the structural design.
Thus passenger cars and light vans do not contribute to the failure of pavements. On the
contrary, extremely heavy axle loads, even though few in number, contribute to the
failure. Apart from the fourth power rule, standard tables are available, which have been
deduced from the AASHO Road Test as illustrated in the below.
Table: Equivalence factors and damaging power of different axle loads
Axle Load lbs Equivalence
(kg) factor
910 2,000 0.0002
 1810 4,000 0.0025
2720 6,000 0.01
3630 8,000 0.03
4500 10,000 0.09
5440 12,000 0.19
6350 14,000 0.35
7260 16,000 0.61
8160 18,000 1.0
9070 20,000 1.5
9980 22,000 2.3
10890 24,000 3.2
11790 26,000 4.4
12700 28,000 5.8
13610 30,000 7.6
14520 32,000 9.7
15420 34,000 12.1
16320 36,000 15.0
17230 38,000 18.6
18140 40,000 22.8

c) Design traffic loading

The lateral placement of wheel loads affects design significantly. If the tendency of the
traffic is to follow a certain fixed position across the pavement, the strip under the wheel
loads gets severely loaded whereas the remaining portion of the pavement gets less loads.
Theoretically, therefore, pavements can be made of varying thickness depending upon
the lateral placement of vehicles. In actual practice, however, this is not done and a
uniform pavement thickness is provided. In airport run-ways, the central one-third of
paved width is principally used, and edges can be made with lesser thickness.
The current Kenyan practice on the distribution of commercial traffic is as under:
i. Single carriageway roads of width less than 7m.
Since traffic tends to be more channelized it is assumed that the central section of the road
is used by 70 to 80% of the commercial vehicles. The sum of standard axles in both
directions is used to allow for the overlap.
ii. Two-lane single carriageway roads of width greater than 7m
The design should be based on the sum of standard axles in the most heavily trafficked
direction
iii. Dual carriageway roads.
The slow-traffic lanes will carry 80 – 90% of the commercial vehicles as long as the flow
in the direction considered does not exceed 2,000 commercial vehicles per day. In this
case the design should be based on 80% of the sum of standard axle loads in the most
heavily trafficked direction. The distribution factor may be reduced by 20 per cent for
each additional lane.
d) Design life
In order to calculate the number of repetitions of the wheel loads, information is also
needed on the design life and traffic growth rate. In the Kenyan practice, the design
philosophy is generally guided by "stage-construction" for low volume roads and in cases
where resources constraints prevail. As per this practice, the road is built in stages and
its specifications made to match at each period of its life with the traffic.
Arterial/primary roads are now designed for a 20-year period. Other roads may be
designed for a shorter period of say 10 to 15 years, with strengthening or upgrading
scheduled at the end of the design period of when traffic demand reaches a prescribed
level. The rate of growth of traffic is determined from past trends or on the basis of growth
of other sectors of the economy (e.g. growth of GNP, agricultural output, motor vehicles,
diesel consumption etc.). The rate in Kenya on National Highways varies from 8 to 15 per
cent per annum. In the absence of any detailed studies, a rate of 7.5 per cent per annum
is commonly adopted. The equation used for calculating the cumulative number of
standard axles is as under
(1 + r)n − 1
Ns = 365 ∗ A ∗ VDF ∗ [ ]
r
Where;
𝑁𝑠 = Cumulative number of standard axles to be catered for in the design.
A = Initial traffic (commercial vpd) duly modified to account for lane
distribution.
 r = Annual growth rate of commercial traffic.
n = Design life in years.
VDF = Vehicle damage factor.
Example:
A two-lane two-way road is at present carrying-a traffic of 1,000 commercial vehicles per
day. It is to be strengthened for the growing traffic needs. The vehicle damage factor has
been found to be 3.0. The rate of growth of traffic is 10 per cent per annum. The period of
construction is 5 years. The pavement is to be designed for 15 years after completion.
Calculate the cumulative standard axles to be used in design.
Solution
Present traffic = 1,000 cv/day
Traffic after completion of strengthening (1 + 𝑟)𝑛 = 1,000 × (1 + .10)5 = 1,611 cv/day.
Number of commercial vehicles per day in design lane = 1611X.75=1,209
Cumulative standard axles
(1 + 0.1)15 − 1
𝑁𝑠 = 365 × 1,611 × 0.75 × 3 × [ ] = 42.03 𝑚𝑠𝑎
0.1