U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| REPORT |
| This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
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| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-13-091 Date: November 2014 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-13-091 Date: November 2014 |
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The Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program has developed and deployed a set of rules that apply vehicle axle spacing and weight data obtained with weigh-in-motion systems to classify vehicles. These vehicle classification rules are being used across the country at the test sites included in the LTPP Specific Pavement Studies Traffic Data Collection Pooled-Fund Study, TPF-5(004). This report examines the performance of the LTPP vehicle classification rules and the implications of their use in the development and application of default values as input for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG).
Part I examines how the LTPP classification rules differ from classification rules used by many States, evaluates the accuracy of the LTPP rules across truck types and at different locations across the country, and evaluates the magnitude of the error that may be introduced in estimation of traffic-loading inputs for pavement design. Part II evaluates the sensitivity of the MEPDG pavement design models to the errors introduced by the use of these traffic-loading inputs. Part III describes the minor changes recommended to the LTPP vehicle classification rules to improve the classification accuracy for the many types of vehicles using the highway system. The results of field tests using the revised vehicle classification rules are also reported.
This report will be of interest to pavement engineering professionals who must perform analyses using traffic data that are not collected at the specific location for which the pavement analyses are being performed. It describes the statistical reliability of using data from other States and regions when using such data is necessary.
Jorge E. Pagán-Ortiz
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 the use of the information contained in this document.
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1. Report No. FHWA-HRT-13-091 |
2. Government Accession No. |
3. Recipient’s Catalog No. |
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4. Title and Subtitle Verification, Refinement, and Applicability of Long-Term Pavement Performance Vehicle Classification Rules |
5. Report Date November 2014 |
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6. Performing Organization Code: |
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7. Author(s) M.E. Hallenbeck, O.I. Selezneva, and R. Quinley |
8. Performing Organization Report No. |
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9. Performing Organization Name and Address Applied Research Associates, Inc. 7184 Troy Hill Drive, Suite N Elkridge, Maryland 21075-7056 |
10. Work Unit No. |
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11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-02-C-00138 |
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12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Office of Infrastructure Research & Development Federal Highway Administration 6300 Georgetown Pike McLean, VA 22101-2296 |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered Final Report |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code |
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15. Supplementary Notes Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative: Debbie Walker, HRDI |
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16. Abstract The Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) project has developed and deployed a set of rules for converting axle spacing and weight data into estimates of a vehicle’s classification. These rules are being used at Transportation Pooled Fund Study (TPF) weigh-in-motion (WIM) sites across the country. This report examines the performance of those rules and the implications of their use for the development and application of default values for use within the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. The report is divided into three parts. In part I, the report examines 1) how the LTPP rules differ from classification rules used by many States, 2) the performance of the LTPP rules in terms of their accuracy across truck types and at different LTPP WIM sites across the country, and 3) the size of the error that can be introduced into the estimation of traffic loading inputs for pavement design when load spectra developed from the LTPP TPF sites using these rules are combined with truck volume data collected using State-specific classification rule sets. Part II of this report examines the sensitivity of the pavement design models to the errors introduced by the use of these traffic loading inputs. Based on the results of these sensitivity tests, recommendations are made about the use of load spectra computed using Specific Pavement Studies TPF WIM data. Part III of this report describes minor changes to the LTPP classification rules recommended to improve their performance. Finally, the results of field tests of the recommended revised classification rules are presented. |
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17. Key Words Traffic loading, pavement design, long-term pavement performance |
18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 158 |
22. Price |
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| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors
AADTT |
Annual Average Daily Truck Traffic |
AASHTO |
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |
AC |
Asphalt Concrete |
AVC |
Automatic Vehicle Classification |
Caltrans |
California Department of Transportation |
ESAL |
Equivalent Single-Axle Load |
ETG |
Expert Task Group |
FHWA |
Federal Highway Administration |
GPS |
General Pavement Studies |
GVW |
Gross Vehicle Weight |
HMA |
Hot Mix Asphalt |
IRI |
International Roughness Index |
LTPP |
Long-Term Pavement Performance |
MEPDG |
Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide |
NALS |
Normalized Axle Load Spectra |
NCHRP |
National Cooperative Highway Research Program |
PCC |
Portland Cement Concrete |
PSI |
Present Serviceability Index |
RI |
Rural Interstate |
ROPA |
Rural Other Principal Arterial |
SPS |
Specific Pavement Studies |
SUV |
Sport Utility Vehicle |
TPF |
Transportation Pooled Fund Study |
TRB |
Transportation Research Board |
TTC |
Truck Traffic Classification |
VCD |
Vehicle Class Distribution |
WIM |
Weigh in Motion |
