In order to determine over- or under-stressed pavement structures caused by long-trucks, a sample of 1746 rides in direct transport and 483 rides in combined transport were analyzed. The average gross mass of a long-truck is 32 tons. From the sample, approximately 9% of the trucks were overloaded. The overload was below 3 tons. The maximum axle load was 11.7 tons. The axle load distribution of long-trucks in combined transport showed lower values than the axle load distribution in direct transport. Compared with equivalent conventional trucks, the number of 10 ton equivalent axle loads of long-trucks was 5% lower. The mean axle factor fA for long-trucks is 7.40. The volume of transport of long-trucks is equal to 1.53 times the volume of transport of equivalent conventional trucks. The number of long-trucks in the total collective of heavy traffic is increasing (up to 9%), resulting in a smaller B-number per RStO 12. However, this would not normally lead to a change to the next smaller load class. The design by RDO Asphalt 09 using the data from long-trucks resulted in a slightly lower fatigue status at the end of the designs 30 years of useful life. This would lead to a marginal extension of the pavement life. The data from long-trucks, under the defined traffic technical specification and allowed vehicle weight limits, would not result in over-stressed pavement structures. In comparison with conventional trucks, the calculated long-truck under-stressed pavements has only a marginal significance and does not have any practical impact in the useful life of the pavement. (Author/publisher)
Abstract