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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations

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This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-05-079
Date: May 2006

Optimization of Traffic Data Collection for Specific Pavement Design Applications

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Foreword

The objective of this study is to establish the minimum traffic data collection effort required for pavement design applications satisfying a maximum acceptable error under a prescribed confidence level. The approach consists of simulating the traffic data input to the 2002 National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 1-37A design guide for 17 distinct traffic data collection scenarios using extended-coverage, weigh-in-motion (WIM) data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance database. They include a combination of site-specific, regional, and national WIM, automated vehicle classification, and automated traffic recorder data of various lengths of coverage. Regional data were obtained using clustering techniques. Pavement life was estimated using mean traffic input and low-percentile input to the NCHRP 1-37A design guide for three levels of confidence: 75 percent, 85 percent, and 95 percent. For each confidence level, ranges in pavement life prediction errors were estimated. A three-dimensional plot was produced, indicating the maximum error by confidence level for each of the traffic data collection scenarios analyzed. This plot can be used to establish the minimum required traffic data collection effort, given the acceptable error and the desirable level of confidence.

Gary L. Henderson
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development

Notice

This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.

The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade and manufacturers' names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the object of the document.

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Technical Report Documentation Page

 

1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-05-079
2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No.
4. Title and Subtitle
Optimization of Traffic Data Collection for Specific Pavement Design Applications
5. Report Date
May 2006
6. Performing Organization Code
 
7. Author(s)
A.T. Papagiannakis, M. Bracher, J. Li, and N. Jackson
8. Performing Organization Report No.
123210-8
9. Performing Organization Name and Address
Nichols Consulting Engineers
1885 South Arlington Avenue,
Suite 111
Reno, NV 89509-3370

Washington State University
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
101 Sloan Hall
Spokane Street
Pullman, WA 99164-2910
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
 
11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-02-D-00139
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
Federal Highway Administration
6300 Georgetown Pike
McLean, VA 22101-2296
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report
March 2003 to July 2005
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
 
15. Supplementary Notes
Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR): Larry Wiser, Long-Term Pavement Performance Team
16. Abstract
The objective of this study is to establish the minimum traffic data collection effort required for pavement design applications satisfying a maximum acceptable error under a prescribed confidence level. The approach consists of simulating the traffic data input to the 2002 National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) 1-37A design guide for 17 distinct traffic data collection scenarios using extended-coverage, weigh-in-motion (WIM) data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance database. They include a combination of site-specific, regional, and national WIM, automated vehicle classification, and automated traffic recorder data of various lengths of coverage. Regional data were obtained using clustering techniques. Pavement life was estimated using mean traffic input and low-percentile input to the NCHRP 1-37A design guide for three levels of confidence: 75 percent, 85 percent, and 95 percent. For each confidence level, ranges in pavement life prediction errors were estimated. A three-dimensional plot was produced, indicating the maximum error by confidence level for each of the traffic data collection scenarios analyzed. This plot can be used to establish the minimum required traffic data collection effort, given the acceptable error and the desirable level of confidence.
17. Key Words
Traffic input, NCHRP 1-37A design guide, LTPP, clustering, tolerable errors, confidence level.
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161.
19. Security Classification (of this report)
Unclassified
20. Security Classification (of this page)
Unclassified
21. No. of Pages
126
22. Price
 

Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized


SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors


Table Of Contents

List Of Figures

List Of Tables

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

 

AADT Average Annual Daily Traffic
AADTT Average Annual Daily Truck Traffic
AADW Annual Average Day of Week
AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
AC Asphalt Concrete
AEPV Average ESALs per Vehicle
ATR Automated Traffic Recorder
AVC Automated Vehicle Classification
CMAWD Combined Month and Average Weekday
CMDW Combined Month and Day of Week
COTR Contracting Officer's Technical Representative
CRC Continuously Reinforced Concrete
CRCP Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement
CTDB Central Traffic Database
CWAWD Combined Week and Average Weekday
DAR Daily Adjustment Ratio
DOT Department of Transportation
DOW Day of Week
DTR Daily Traffic Ratio
ESAL Equivalent Single-Axle Load
FHWA Federal Highway Administration
GPS General Pavement Study
GVW Gross Vehicle Weight
ICM Integrated Climatic Model
IRI International Roughness Index
JPCP Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement
LTPP Long-Term Pavement Performance
M Monthly Adjustment Factor
MADT Monthly Average Daily Traffic
MADW Monthly Average Day of Week
MAF Monthly Adjustment Factor
MAR Monthly Adjustment Ratio
MDW Month and Day of Week
MDWTR Monthly Day of Week Traffic Ratio
MTR Monthly Traffic Ratio
N National
NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program
PCC Portland Cement Concrete
PDG Pavement Design Guide
PSI Present Serviceability Index
QC Quality Control
R Regional
RFP Request for Proposal
RH Relative Humidity
SAS Statistical Analysis System®
SD Specific Day
SD Standard Deviation
SDNN Specific Day With Noon-to-Noon Factors
SN Structural Number
SS Site Specific
SWDW Separate Week and Day of Week
TMG Traffic Monitoring Guide
TTC Truck Traffic Class
TWRG Truck Weight Road Group
VC Vehicle Class
VMT Vehicle-Miles Traveled
VOL Daily Vehicle Volume Count
WIM Weigh-in-Motion

FHWA-HRT-05-079

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