THE OVERLOAD IMPACT ON DESIGN LIFE OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT

Abstract

Overloaded vehicles is one of the main problems that cause premature failure in road infrastructure. This paper presents an analysis of overloaded vehicles' effect on flexible pavement based on historical weigh-in-motion data. This article highlights the potential use of weigh-in-motion (WIM) data in pavement design by addressing the overload, the percentage of overloading, and axle load distribution. The percentage of overloaded vehicles can reach more than 80% of the total number of trucks and maybe one of the substantial factors that reduce pavement's service life. The actual traffic load is presented in the form of distribution for each type of axle load (axle load spectra) and the Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF) for each truck type. The effect of overload on the flexible pavement's design life is estimated by using the Cumulative ESAL comparison and Pavement Damage Ratio. Both analyses show that overload vehicles significantly decrease the pavement design life up to nearly half of the pavement life.