Overweight Vehicles Research Articles

Truck Weights on Municipal and National Roads without Weight Enforcement

One of the main causes of premature deterioration in pavement structures is overweight heavy vehicles. To characterize these vehicles, real loads of motor vehicles of more than four tons should be monitored, especially vehicles classified as C2 (2-axles, single units), C3 (3-axles, single units), T3-S2 (5-axles, single trailer) and T3-S3 (6-axles, single trailer) type, as they represent 99.5% of the Costa Rican truck fleet. This study includes six temporal weighing surveys on municipal roads and seven weighing surveys on national roads, comprising the weight of 525 and 554 trucks, respectively. On municipal roads, C2 vehicles with bulk and wagon body types are predominant (67% of surveyed vehicles), whereas on national routes T3-S2 vehicles predominate (42%). Likewise, it was determined that most of exceeding data correspond to vehicles transporting pit material, construction materials, and merchandise on both types of roads. Compared with municipal roads (8%), the percentage of overweight vehicles is more than twice that on national roads (18%) where weight regulations are not enforced. To estimate updated and realistic load data that can be included in pavement design manuals and guides, the same results are provided in parameters such as truck factors and load spectra.

The safety analysis of transportation vehicles carrying prefabricated units under the action of gusts

The prefabricated-unit industry has developed rapidly and the safety of vehicles carrying prefabricated units has received extensive attention. In order to evaluate the safety of vehicles carrying prefabricated units under the action of gusts, the roughness of road surfaces was simulated by the sinusoid superposition method. Furthermore, the wind load was simulated by the harmonic synthesis method. The analysis model of the 13-DOF vehicle was established, and the wind-vehicle-road system was formed. In addition, the safety of the vehicles carrying prefabricated units under gusts was analyzed. It is demonstrated that when a vehicle encounters a sudden gust during driving, lateral deviation of the body will occur. The contact force on the windward side wheel will drop sharply and the wheel is easy to get off the ground, which decides whether a rollover accident happens or not. It sheds light on the safety analysis for ultra-wide and overweight vehicles under gust action.

Detect and charge: Machine learning based fully data-driven framework for computing overweight vehicle fee for bridges

Abstract This study develops a fully data-driven framework for computing overweight vehicle fee that combines historical bridge data from National Bridge Inventory (NBI) and weigh-in-motion (WIM) data. In this framework, information regarding vehicle weight distribution on bridges was obtained using Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based interpolation. Using this interpolation approach, the vehicle weight distribution on each bridge could be estimated from WIM data based on their location. Later, these estimated distributions were combined with the NBI for developing a machine learning-based prediction model that inputs bridge characteristics (e.g., age and traffic) and outputs deck condition. The model was employed to calculate the expected bridge service life under two scenarios to compute a bridge life reduction per damaging load. Finally, the bridge life cycle cost was conducted to convert the calculated service life difference into a fee. Integration of this framework with existing geographical information system based online permit issuing tools will allow for detection of bridges on vehicles' routes and charge them a fee considering their weight and the load capacity of the bridges they will pass over. Therefore, fees will be calculated more accurately and efficiently. Additionally, the proposed framework has the flexibility of being converted into a table for conforming to the conventional permit fee calculation scheme.

Statistical Distributions of Pavement Damage Associated with Overweight Vehicles: Methodology and Case Study

The trucking industry is the primary mode of transporting for goods and commodities in the United States. Currently, there is an increasing trend in the use of overweight (OW) vehicles on the highway network. State highway agencies (SHAs) are challenged to address this increase, particularly relative to associated pavement damage. In this study, a probabilistic method was developed to evaluate rutting and fatigue cracking damage caused by OW vehicles under different road and environmental conditions. The influential input parameters in this analysis included gross vehicle weight (GVW), axle configuration, axle weight, pavement temperature, and vehicle-miles traveled (VMT). Necessary information was obtained by analyzing more than 170,000 entries of a Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) OW permit database. The developed model was based on mechanistic-empirical (ME) approach and considered asphalt concrete (AC) viscoelastic characterization. The results of this study were distributions of AC critical responses, load equivalency factors (LEFs), and relative damage factors (RDFs). The analysis showed that load equivalent factor (LEF) distributions could be incorporated in pavement design methods to account for OW vehicles. Furthermore, the damage induced by specific OW vehicles could be assessed using the relative damage factor (RDF) concept and may be efficiently used by SHAs during the permit application process. A case study was presented illustrating the impact of an OW axle configuration on pavement damage. Finally, a method was suggested for developing RDF tables with damage ranges corresponding to different axle configurations and the GVW that could be a tool for SHAs to evaluate and understand pavement damage induced by OW vehicles.

Research on vehicle distribution model based on POT theory

The vehicle overload phenomenon in expressway has become increasingly serious in China. Research on the extreme value of the vehicle load with its development trend is an urgent problem in the toll-by-weight mode. On the basis of statistical analysis of WIM data in Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, by the extreme value theory and POT theory, a POT model had been developed. Vehicle weight distribution in the tail of the distribution function was obtained, which can predict the extreme value of vehicle load in any return period. Results showed that more heavy vehicles will appear in the future. It provided a useful reference for effective forecast of overweight vehicles.

Probabilistic Mechanistic-Based Pavement Damage Costs for Multitrip Overweight Vehicles

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to present a probabilistic approach for estimating asphalt concrete (AC) pavement damage–associated costs (PDAC) attributed to overweight (OW) vehicles. ...

Use of Non-Destructive Methods: Case Studies of Marine Port and Bridges Structures in Surabaya

Consideration of degradation due to harsh environments, overweight vehicles, increasing traffic and frequent earthquake events are some of the challenges to overcome when designing reinforced concrete bridges. Structural elements can be affected by a reduction in strength and stiffness due to the carbonation of the concrete cover, the corrosion of the reinforcement, excessive cracking and displacement under service load and failure. Therefore, structures need to be monitored over time to ensure that they have the sufficient capacity to resist the intended design loads. The existing condition of bridges on toll roads and in ports located in Surabaya Indonesia has been investigated using non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment. Several reinforced concrete bridges of high level of importance have been chosen as case studies considering different exposure and age of structure. Typical results from the site investigation are presented and discussed in this paper. The NDT equipment utilised in this paper includes the use of eddy current, two-chamber vacuum cell and Wenner Probe principle to assess the thickness, the air permeability and the electrical resistivity of the concrete cover, respectively. In addition, Silver Schmidt hammer was also used to measure the compressive strength of the concrete.

Optimal transverse position for overweight trucks to cross simply supported multi-girder bridges

Recent years has witnessed a steady increase in the issued overweight vehicle permits. Damage and deterioration of bridges caused by overweight vehicles have received increasing attention. Most previous studies on overweight vehicles have focused on the routing and weight regulation of overweight trucks while little attention has been paid to the determination of the optimal transverse position for overweight trucks to cross highway bridges. This article aims to investigate the optimal transverse position for overweight trucks to cross the simply supported multi-girder bridges and provide suggestions for the management of overweight vehicles. Finite element analysis is performed for a group of prefabricated concrete bridges commonly used in China under the action of overweight trucks with varying transverse positions, and the optimal transverse position is determined based on the maximum bending stress of the girders. The effects of a few important factors, including the superstructure configuration, length of bridge spans, number of girders, type of girder connections, and support conditions, on the optimal transverse truck position are also investigated. The findings in this article highlight the importance of the transverse position of overweight trucks when crossing multi-girder bridges.

The assessment of damage to Texas highways due to oversize and overweight loads considering climatic factors

ABSTRACTTransportation agencies should have the capacity to evaluate the damage caused by oversize and overweight (OS/OW) vehicles in order to develop effective infrastructure management and rehabilitation strategies. In this paper, we discussed how to combine different paradigms that influence pavement performance into a single evaluation methodology by integrating the most available historical data with respect to the characteristics of OS/OW vehicles (i.e. dimension and weight), their origin and destination, permitted routes, frequency of the routes, pavement condition data, and climatic effects. The proposed methodology is then implemented into three case studies to indicate its applicability and practicality. In the case studies, we evaluate the impacts of OS/OW loads on pavements under different scenarios and combinations of the related factors. The corresponding relationships between pavement conditions and passing OS/OW loads are quantified with a well-accepted sigmoidal function. The results also indicate that, at the early age of the road, higher OS/OW loading would bring a faster deterioration rate (e.g. about 6% of the reduction in service life for extreme high OS/OW loading, while only 2.35% for low OS/OW loading). At the end of road life, the reduction trend slows down, nearly above 2% for all OS/OW loading levels.

Study on POT model of vehicle load under toll-by-weight mode

The overload and overweight operations of vehicles in expressway are particularly serious in China recently. Research on the extreme maximum value of the vehicle loads is an urgent problem in the bridge design. On the basis of statistical analysis of the WIM data from Yu-Zhan Expressway under toll-by-weight mode in Guangdong Province, the POT probability model of gross weight of the vehicle was established by the extreme value theory. It can predict the probability distribution of operating vehicle loads in any recurrence period. Results showed that the overweight vehicles were not accidental, and there may be heavier vehicles in the future. It is necessary to improve and modify the current toll-by-weight charging policy.

New Approach for Screening Overweight Vehicles: Allowable Ranges of Axle Configurations

Throughout the United States, state agencies are issuing an increasingly large number of permits for overweight vehicles every year. State agencies use various methods to process permit requests. The Indiana Department of Transportation employs a screening process that consists of the Tennessee Formula (allowable weight is determined and checked, for every axle group) in combination with the gross vehicle weight limit. If a permit truck satisfies these two screening criteria, it is permitted; otherwise, it is further processed with refined analyses. However, the Tennessee Formula is based on allowable stress design. As a result, cases were observed in which the load effects produced by a truck that would be permitted by the Tennessee Formula actually exceeded load effects produced by the set of rating vehicles when the load factor rating method or the load and resistance factor rating method was employed. The set of rating vehicles is considered a minimum threshold that any nonposted bridge must be able to withstand. This paper presents a different approach for evaluating requests for overweight vehicle permits. Load effects from the set of rating vehicles and typical permit vehicles were directly compared, and screening vehicles with defined ranges of axle weights and axle spacings were developed and recommended for permitting decisions. This method is ( a) safe; ( b) simple, because it can be used easily by nontechnical personnel; and ( c) practical, because a large number of actual permit trucks fall within the proposed screening vehicles.

Estimating the marginal costs of bridge damage due to overweight vehicles using a modified equivalent-vehicle methodology and in-service data on life-cycle costs and usage

Civil infrastructure managers have a profound interest in knowing the costs of infrastructure degradation caused by user operations that exceed statutory limits; that way, they are better informed to establish or revise policies related to permit fee structures for such extra-legal operations. In the specific context of vehicle weight permitting for highway bridges, past determinations have typically relied largely on bridge damage simulation using theoretical relationships between the loading and failure modes. Unlike the theory-based simulations, empirical data analysis uses observed field data and therefore are expected to yield more intuitive insights about the actual relationship between in-service loading patterns and their damage (and the cost of repair thereof). A few past studies have used such empirical approaches with some success but have generally been stymied by practical considerations including the lack of adequate translational relationships between the vehicles operating on the road and the vehicle classes typically considered in load analysis. Also, the overweight (OW) cost differences across different bridges attributes (material type, design type, functional class, and age) remain to be investigated. In a bid to overcome these limitations, this paper uses observed in-service data for vehicle loads and the life-cycle costs associated with bridge deterioration repair. The proposed methodology includes a technique that correlates AASHTO design vehicles to FHWA vehicle classes, estimates the total life-cycle cost of bridge upkeep, and allocates this cost to each user group (vehicle class) based on the axle configuration and usage frequency (vehicle-miles travelled) of that class. For each vehicle class, the marginal cost of bridge damage is determined on the basis of the incremental cost responsibility (as a result of adding that vehicle class to the traffic stream) and the typical traffic volume of that vehicle class, and were found to range from $0.01 to as much as $36.35per ft. length per pass of bridge, depending on OW class, and bridge functional class, material type, and age. The paper quantifies the extent to which bridge damage cost due to an overweight truck is influenced by the attributes of the truck and the bridge. The results can be of help to agencies seeking to formulate, update, or evaluate current or future OW permitting policies from the perspective of highway bridge damage among other impacts. This effort is considered timely in the current era when several highway agencies are considering relaxation of their OW permitting policies as a part of efforts to project a business-friendly image in a bid to spur economic development in their states.

Evaluation of a current vehicle load model using weigh-in-motion records: a case in China

In order to assess the vehicle load carrying capacity of existing bridges on the national highway G103 in Beijing, the vehicle load model for the practical traffic flow conditions needs to be determined. Based on the traffic axle load data measured by the weigh-in-motion system and the methods proposed by General Code for Design of Highway Bridges and Culverts (JTG D60-2004) and Code for Design of Highway Reinforced Concrete and Prestressed Concrete Bridges and Culverts (JTG D62-2004), the vehicle load parameters under practical traffic flow conditions are investigated. A typical 6-axle vehicle model with a 2-1-3 axial pattern is proposed by using the statistical analysis of total weight, axial weight, etc. The live load effects of Daliushu No. 2 Bridge, one highway bridge on the national highway G103, are analyzed using the proposed model and compared to the vehicle load model given in the Chinese code. The results show that there are great differences in the vehicle load parameters and the live load effects from the proposed vehicle load model increased by 20–50% compared with the model given by the code. The overweight vehicles are potential threats to the safety of existing bridges.

Mapping Overweight Vehicle Permits for Pavement Engineering Applications

AbstractOversize-overweight (OSOW) permit programs allow carriers to move large, heavy, and often high-value freight on state and federal highways. This study analyzed six years of Wisconsin single-trip overweight permits and two years of Iowa single-trip overweight permits to visualize routing trends, identify heavily travelled highway segments, and provide support for mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) analyses and pavement reliability research. The methodology used custom visual basic for applications (VBA) scripts for text parsing and route processing with results linked to a geographic information system (GIS) database. The results allowed for visualization of permit traffic, geospatial queries of permit routes, origin-destination analyses, and identification of heavily-used permit vehicle corridors. These results have numerous applications for highway design, bridge engineering, freight trend analysis, and highway system planning. Additionally, the methodology supports the generatio...

An Effectiveness Analysis of Pilot Enforcement for Overweight Vehicles(Trucks) using High-Speed Weigh-In-Motion System

On January 16 to May 31, 2012, Korea Expressway Corporation was carried out an pilot overweight enforcement using high-speed weigh-in-motion at Gyeongbu expressway 195.0k (Gimcheon) and Jungbunaeryuk expressway 119.5k (Seonsan). In this study, it is attempted to analyze the practical effect of high-speed weigh-in-motion by comparing the average total weight and traffic volume of eight weeks before and after the these overweight enforcement, respectively. The main results are as follows: First, the result of analysis of the change in average total weight and traffic volume, it was found that it did not differ after as in previous traffic volume, and the total weight is reduced. This means that the total weight is not reduced by decreasing freight traffic, but by decreasing the total weight. Therefore, it can be seen that there is an effect of pilot overweight enforcement using high-speed weigh-in-motion. Second, the average total weight and total weekly traffic volume decreased rapidly starting from the start of the overweight enforcement, but there was showing a tendency to increase gradually again.

Using vehicle simulations to understand strategies for accommodating oversize, overweight vehicles at roundabouts

There is considerable evidence that roundabouts are the safest and most efficient form of traffic control for most intersections. The potential use of roundabouts with all their inherent benefits may be greatly diminished if they are not able to accommodate oversize/overweight (OSOW) vehicles, sometimes called “Superloads.” The problem, therefore, is how to accommodate OSOW vehicles without sacrificing the integrity, safety and other benefits of roundabouts.This study uses TORUS software to design six standard roundabouts using guidance from the latest Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) roundabout guide. Six OSOW check vehicles from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s library were used to modify the designs to accommodate these selected check vehicles at the roundabouts. These six OSOW check vehicles were used to conduct swept path analysis using AutoTURN software at the selected six standard roundabouts for right turn, through, and left turn simulations. The space requirements for these maneuvers were analyzed in detail. Various strategies for better accommodating these OSOW check vehicles were suggested and experimented with in this study using AutoTURN software simulations. The effectiveness of using a straight passage through the center island for OSOW vehicles was also addressed in this study and was found to be effective. All the strategies investigated in this study proved to be effective in accommodating OSOW vehicles when compared to conventional ways of using a roundabout. The needed total truck apron was calculated and used as a reference to determine an effective strategy for accommodating OSOW vehicles. This research can be used as guidance for transportation engineers, planners and decision makers to determine possible ways of designing a roundabout at an intersection where certain OSOW vehicles are expected.

Recent developments in inverse problems of vehicle–bridge interaction dynamics

This paper presents an overview on inverse problems in vehicle–bridge interaction dynamics. Dynamic interaction force exists between a vehicle and a bridge deck when the vehicle moves on top. A thorough understanding of this moving load problem is crucial for the design of bridge and its condition assessment as well as control of overweight vehicle. The identification of moving load is a typical inverse problem with many approaches developed for a solution in recent years. These approaches can be categorized into those based on the analytical model and those formulated with a finite element model with a focus on the solution technique. Structural parameter identification with the moving load as excitation is another kind of inverse problem in the vehicle–bridge dynamics. The moving vehicle is a moving excitation on the bridge structure, and the bridge and/or the vehicle responses can be taken to identify the parameters of the structure as part of the structural condition assessment. These two topics will be reviewed with typical examples and experimental studies to illustrate their performances and limitations, and to highlight future directions in these research areas.

Performance Enhancement of the Existing Bridges due to Overweight Vehicles with Multi-Axle Loading

This article presented the analytical results focused on the responses of existing bridges in Thailand subjected to overweight vehicles. The bridges, span lengths ranging from 5 to 20 meters, were loaded by the overweight vehicles with multi-axle loading having gross weight of 400 tons. The rating factors of bridges were also performed. The bridge strengthening methods using carbon fiber reinforcement polymers and intended settlement technique were also presented.The results indicated that the load rating factors were increased and conformed to the load rating standards. The results of this study would be a reference data to establish an alternative plan of bridge strengthening to improve the safety of the bridges under a moving of overweight vehicles.

English

Detection of vehicle in traffic provides the details about vehicle and gives better understanding about traffic. Traffic planners can obtain detailed information on the numbers and types of vehicles using a section of road. This allows them to adjust maintenance schedules and lets enforcement authorities know where and when to monitor for overweight vehicles without carrying out expensive manual operations on every road. Detection of vehicles in images represents an important step towards achieving automated roadway monitoring capabilities. The challenge lies in being able to reliably and quickly detect multiple small objects of interest against a cluttered background which usually consists of road signs, tress and buildings. To this end present a proof of concept Traffic monitoring application. The application counts the number of cars passing in either direction. Car detection is done using a boosted cascade of Haar features and is combined with the pyramidal KLT tracker to achieve a fast monitoring system.

Geographic Information System Tool for Enhancing Administration of Overweight-Vehicle Permits

Highway agencies impose permit fees for overweight vehicles both to recuperate (partially) the consumption cost and to encourage the use of less-damaging loading patterns and vehicle configurations. To provide information for such policies, numerous state and national studies have investigated the impacts of overweight vehicles on the physical and operational condition of highway infrastructure, including the consumption (damage) because of overweight vehicles. These studies, which largely addressed truck size and weight, highway cost allocation, or damage cost estimation, have alluded to the onerous challenge of collating permit data with existing pavement and bridge inventory data. Most previous research has relied on aggregate data to overcome this difficulty. The current study details the use of a geographic information system (GIS) tool developed to determine the infrastructure consumption at a disaggregate level. The tool was used to estimate the infrastructure consumption for individual permit records as part of a larger study that analyzed highway infrastructure consumption and revenue generation associated with overweight-vehicle operations in Indiana. The tool may be used in other contexts to administer overweight-vehicle permits, in addition to its use in impact evaluation. Finally, benefits and implications of using GIS technology in the administration of overweight-vehicle permits are discussed.