The performance evaluation of heavy and light duty pavements in Victoria/Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Reported in this paper is an evaluation of structural and functional performance of heavy duty and light duty pavements by addressing the effects of several factors on the rate of pavement deterioration. The sample used herein is a network of freeways and arterials from Victoria/Australia covering four road classes, namely M, A, B and C. The first two road classes represent heavy duty pavement and the last two road classes represent light duty pavements. These road classes differ in qualities, functions, duties, geometric standards, and traffic volumes and loadings. This paper aims to assess the performance of the four road classes by comparing their pavement conditions and environmental factors affecting the rate of pavement deterioration. More than 2300 kilometers of road length was selected from 40 highway sections to reflect Victoria’s network conditions. The parameters considered for assessing road performance were traffic loading, pavement strength, and environmental factors. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to explore the significance of different predictor variables for all road classes. The study confirms that the rate of roughness and rutting progression per year for all road classes is very close, and the environmental factors affect roughness and rutting progressions for light duty pavements only.