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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-18-056 Date: August 2019 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-18-056 Date: August 2019 |
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The movement of superheavy loads (SHLs) on the Nation's highways is an increasingly common, vital economic necessity for many important industries, such as chemical, oil, electrical, and defense. Many superheavy components are extremely large and heavy (gross vehicle weights in excess of a few million pounds), and they often require specialized trailers and hauling units. At times, SHL vehicles have been assembled to suit the load being transported, and therefore, the axle configurations have not been standard or consistent. Accommodating SHL movements without undue damage to highway infrastructure requires the determination of whether the pavement is structurally adequate to sustain the SHL movement and protect any underground utilities. Such determination involves analyzing the likelihood of instantaneous or rapid load-induced shear failure of the pavement structure.
The goal of this project was to develop a comprehensive analysis process for evaluating SHL movement on flexible pavements. As part of this project, a comprehensive mechanistic-based analysis approach consisting of several analysis procedures was developed for flexible pavement structures and documented in a 10-volume series of Federal Highway Administration reports—a final report and 9 appendices.(1–9) This is Analysis Procedures for Evaluating Superheavy Load Movement on Flexible Pavements, Volume VIII: Appendix G, Risk Analysis of Buried Utilities Under SHL Vehicle Movements, and it details the analysis procedures to investigate flexible and rigid buried utilities failure risks under SHL-vehicle movements. It also verifies the proposed approach using large-scale experiments on full-scale pavement structures. This report is intended for use by highway agency pavement engineers responsible for assessing the structural adequacy of pavements in the proposed route and identifying mitigation strategies, where warranted, in support of the agency's response to SHL-movement permit requests.
Cheryl Allen Richter, Ph.D., P.E.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
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Technical Report Documentation Page
| 1. Report No. FHWA-HRT-18-056 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3 Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4. Title and Subtitle Analysis Procedures for Evaluating Superheavy Load Movement on Flexible Pavements, Volume VIII: Appendix G, Risk Analysis of Buried Utilities Under Superheavy Load Vehicle Movements |
5. Report Date August 2019 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
| 7. Author(s) Hadi Nabizadeh (ORCID: 0000-0001-8215-1299), |
8. Performing Organization Report No.
WRSC-UNR-201710-01G |
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| 9. Performing Organization Name and Address Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) | |||
| 11. Contract or Grant No.
DTFH61-13-C-00014 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Office of Infrastructure Research and Development |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report; August 2013–July 2018 |
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| 14. Sponsoring Agency Code
HRDI-20 |
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| 15. Supplementary Notes Nadarajah Sivaneswaran (HRDI-20; ORCID: 0000-0003-0287-664X), Office of Infrastructure Research and Development, Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, served as the Contracting Officer’s Representative. |
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| 16. Abstract The movement of superheavy loads (SHLs) has become more common over the years since it is a vital necessity for many important industries, such as chemical, oil, electrical, and defense. SHL hauling units are much larger in size and weight compared to the standard trucks. SHL gross vehicle weights may be in excess of a few million pounds, so they often require specialized trailers and components with nonstandard spacing between tires and axles. Accommodating SHL-vehicle movements requires the determination of whether the pavement is structurally adequate and involves the analysis of the likelihood of instantaneous or rapid load-induced shear failure. As part of the Federal Highway Administration project, Analysis Procedures for Evaluating Superheavy Load Movement on Flexible Pavements, methods for conducting buried utilities risk analyses in a flexible pavement under SHL-vehicle movements were developed. The available and widely accepted state-of-practice procedures to examine the structural integrity of flexible and rigid buried utilities subjected to standard traffic live load were adopted in this project. However, significant shortfalls in the existing methodologies, such as the impact of the layered nature of the existing flexible pavement, the role of unconventional surface loading from an SHL vehicle, and the effect of vehicle speed, were addressed by the use of 3D-Move Analysis software.(10) To account for the existence of buried utilities in 3D-Move Analysis, computed SHL vehicle-induced stresses were modified using a stress adjustment factor for buried utilities (SAFUtility). SAFUtility was determined based on results from large-scale pavement experiments conducted in this study. |
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| 17. Key Words Superheavy load, flexible pavement, large-scale testing, instrumentation, flexible pipes, rigid culverts |
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 Classification (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classification (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages
67 |
22. Price
N/A |
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Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized
