The values of equivalent single axle loads (ESAL) have been used to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. To improve the pavement design procedures, a new method, called the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), has been developed to use the axle load spectra to represent the vehicle loads in pavement design. These spectra represent the percentage of the total axle applications within each load interval for single, tandem, tridem, and quad axles. Using axle load spectra as the traffic input, the MEPDG method is able to analyze the impacts of varying traffic loads on pavement and provide an optimal pavement structure design. In addition, the new method can be used to analyze the effects of materials and the impacts of seasons, to compare rehabilitation strategies, and to perform forensic analyses of pavement conditions. The MEPDG utilizes mechanistic-empirical approaches to realistically characterize inservice pavements and allows the full integration of vehicular traffic loadings, climatic features, soil characteristics, and paving materials properties into the detailed analysis of pavement structural behaviors and the resulting pavement performance. In order to provide the traffic data input required by the MEPDG, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) made an effort to obtain truck traffic information from the traffic data collected through weigh-in-motion (WIM) stations. This study was conducted to create the truck traffic spectra and other traffic inputs for INDOT to implement the new pavement design method. Furthermore, the INDOT AADT data were used in this study to analyze the spatial distributions of the traffic volumes in Indiana and to obtain the spatial distributions of traffic volumes.
This study was conducted to develop methodologies for appropriately determining the monetary values of I/D rates of highway construction projects in Indiana. In this study, a comprehensive literature review was performed to identify possible effective methodologies for work zone effects, construction impacts, and contract time optimization. The highway production rates were developed in a previous study. The production rates were validated and adjusted with the help from INDOT field engineers. The weigh-in-motion (WIM) collected traffic data were obtained, processed, and analyzed to provide input data for user cost calculations at highway work zones. Construction data were obtained and processed to develop the relationship between the construction cost and construction time. With the traffic and construction data, the methods for user cost calculations were developed as the basis of determining appropriate I/D rates. User costs resulting from traffic delays at Indiana highway work zones were analyzed. A series of equations for estimating user costs at work zones were developed. User cost calculation sheets using MS Excel were developed based on the traffic data on Indiana highway network. Finally, a method was developed to determine I/D rates based on the relationship between construction cost and construction time in combination with the estimated user costs at given work zones. Guidelines for developing A+B bidding and I/D provisions were provided.
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