Scribd
Upload
529 views15 pages

Flexible Pavement and ESAL

This document discusses flexible pavement design and estimating equivalent single-axle loads (ESAL). It covers: 1) The structural components of a flexible pavement including the asphalt concrete surface, granular base, subbase, and subgrade. 2) Methods for estimating ESAL values based on traffic characteristics like vehicle type, axle loads, growth rates, and design period. These methods use load equivalency factors or truck factors. 3) Worked examples demonstrating how to calculate ESAL values using load equivalency factors or truck factors given traffic data.

Uploaded by

RUMM
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
529 views15 pages

Flexible Pavement and ESAL

This document discusses flexible pavement design and estimating equivalent single-axle loads (ESAL). It covers: 1) The structural components of a flexible pavement including the asphalt concrete surface, granular base, subbase, and subgrade. 2) Methods for estimating ESAL values based on traffic characteristics like vehicle type, axle loads, growth rates, and design period. These methods use load equivalency factors or truck factors. 3) Worked examples demonstrating how to calculate ESAL values using load equivalency factors or truck factors given traffic data.

Uploaded by

RUMM
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 15

Lec 28, Ch.20, pp.

955-973: Flexible
pavement design, ESAL (Objectives)

Know the structural components of a


flexible pavement
Learn the types of soil stabilization
methods (from reading)
Learn the general principles of flexible
pavement design
Know how to estimate equivalent single
axle load
What we discuss in class today
Structural components of a flexible
pavement
Wheel load pressure and pavement
structure
Converting the repetition of wheel loads
to the values that can be used for
pavement design
Pavement types

Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement


(Portland Cement)

AC surface
(3 to 6 in) PC surface
Granular base (6 to 12 in)
(Base course)
Subbase Base course
Subgrade
Subgrade
Structural components of a flexible
pavement
Asphalt concrete surface: Mixture of mineral
aggregates and asphaltic materials. 3 to 6
depending on the expected traffic on the pavement.

Granular base (Base course): Usually granular


materials such as crushed stone, crushed or
uncrushed slag, crushed or uncrushed gravel, and
sand.
Subbase: Located immediately above the subgrade. Material of a superior
quality than the subgrade. If necessary, it may be stabilized.
Subgrade: Usually the natural material located along the horizontal alignment
of the pavement and serves as the foundation of the pavement structure. May
be a layer of selected borrowed materials, well compacted. Remember once
loosened, soil must be compacted to reduce voids.
Load distribution through the pavement
structure (covered by CE563)
Typical assumptions:
Higher strength
materials needed Multilayered elastic system
Subbase, base course, AC surface
is infinite in the horizontal direction
Subgrade is infinite in the vertical
and horizontal direction
Contain both the horizontal and vertical
strains below the set values that will cause
excessive cracking
These criteria are considered in terms of
repeated load applications because the
accumulated repetitions of traffic loads are of
significant importance to the development of
cracks and permanent deformation of the
pavement.
Estimating accumulated wheel load
repetitions
Traffic Characteristics: The traffic characteristics are determined in
terms of the number of repetitions of an 18,000-lb (80 kilo-newtons (kN))
single-axle load applied to the pavement on two sets of dual tires.

Equivalent single-axle load (ESAL)


Tire contact area (each Premise: the effect of any
4.51in. (11 cm) radius) load on the performance of a
and 13.57 (33 cm) in apart pavement can be represented
Contact pressure of 70 in terms of the number of
lb/in2 single applications of an
18,000-lb single axle.

4 tires x x 4.512 = 255.601 in2, Total single-axle load = 255.601 x 70


lb/in2 = 17,892 approximately 18,000 lbs.
Load equivalency factors (Table 20.3): Use this if
you know axle loads

Obviously the traffic mix (cars, buses, SU trucks, semis, etc.) must be
known because their gross axle loads are different. Vehicle
classification counts are needed. Also needed is axle load data the
reason for having truck weighing stations on major highways.
How to estimate the traffic mix if field data are not
available (In this case axle loads data must be available).
Table 20.4 can help you estimate break-down of truck
types in percentages.

%
How to estimate ESAL if axle loads are
not known
The equivalent 18,000-lb loads can also be determined from
the vehicle type, if the axle load is unknown, by using a truck
factor for that vehicle type. The truck factor is defined as the
number of 18,000-lb single-load applications caused by a
single passage of a vehicle.

truck _ factor
(number _ of _ axles load _ equivalency _ factor)
number _ of _ vehicles

Table 20.5 gives truck factors, that is, they were computed
based on previous research data. Remember this formula as
the definition of the truck factor. You may not actually
compute it unless you are determining typical truck factors
for your study area. Problem 20-4 let you use this formula.
Distribution of truck factors for different
classes of highways and vehicles

Example: For rural interstates, one single truck is considered to have 0.52 ESAL. Count
the total number of trucks and multiply it by 0.52 to find total ESAL for that section.
Determining the accumulated ESAL
Must know: Design period, traffic growth rate, and design lane factor.
Usually a 20-year design period is used. Traffic growth rates can be
obtained from the planning division of the State DOT.

fd
Design lane factor: Pavement design
is done for the highest loading case
(design lane). Typically the outer lane
is subject to the highest loading.

G jt
Growth factor for a given growth
rate j and design period t
Determining accumulated ESAL when axle
loads are used

ESALi f d G jt AADTi 365 N i FEi

ESALi = equivalent accumulated 18,000-lb (80kN) single-axle load for


the axle category i
fd = design lane factor
Gjt = growth factor for a given growth rate j and design period t
AADTi = first year annual average daily traffic for axle category i
Ni = number of axles on each vehicle in axle category i
FEi = load equivalency factor for axle category i

Note that AADT used here is the total for both directions.
Determining accumulated ESAL when
truck factors are used
ESALi f d G jt AADTi 365 f i
The accumulated ESAL for all categories of axle loads is:
n
ESAL ESALi
i 1

ESALi = equivalent accumulated 18,000-lb axle load for truck category i


fd = design lane factor
Gjt = growth factor for a given growth rate j and design period t
AADTi = first year annual average daily traffic for truck category i
fi = truck factor for vehicles in truck category i
ESAL = equivalent accumulated 18,000-lb axle loads for all vehicles
n = number of truck categories
Example 20-1: Using load equivalency factors
Given: Values extracted from tables:
8-lane divided highway with AADT = Gjt = 29.78 (Table 20.6)
12,000 in each direction
fd = 40% = 0.40 (Table 20.7, 6 or more
PC (1,000lb/axle) = 50%, 2-axle SU lanes)
(6,000lb/axle) = 33%, 3-axle SU
Load equivalency factor (Table 20.3)
(10,000lb/axle) = 17%
Passenger Car Fei = 0.00002 (negligible)
4% annual growth in traffic
2-axle Single Unit Fei = 0.01043
Design period 20 yrs
3-axle Single Unit Fei = 0.0877

ESALi f d G jt AADTi 365 N i FEi


2-axle SU trucks = 0.40 x 29.78 x 12000 x 0.33 x 365 x 2 x 0.01043 = 0.3592 x 106

3-axle SU trucks = 0.40 x 29.78 x 12000 x 0.17 x 365 x 3 x 0.0877 = 2.3336 x 106
n
ESAL ESALi
i 1
Total ESAL = (0.3592 + 2.3336) x 106 = 2.6928 x 106
Example 20-2

Given: See Table 20-2 for the


2-lane major rural collector computations.
AADT = 3000 (both directions) fd = 0.5 in this case (even
Traffic growth rate = 5% distribution in both
Design period = 20 yrs directions)
Passenger Car 60% Gjt = 33.06 (Table 20.6)
SU trucks: 2-axle 4-tire 18%, 2-
axle 6-tire 8%, 3-axle or more = 4% ESALi f d G jt AADTi 365 f i
Semi & combinations: 4-axle or
less = 4%

You might also like