Development of New Load Equivalence Factors for Flexible Pavement Design in Texas

摘要

The research was conducted to improve the method for predicting the total number of 18-kip ESAL's used in flexible pavement thickness design for the State of Texas. In the report pavement damage is defined for two types of distress and load equivalence factor tables are generated for fatigue cracking and rutting as well as for loss of serviceability index. The report contains a methodology for developing these load equivalence factors that are a function of axle load, load configuration, thickness of asphalt concrete, distress type, environmental zone, and the subgrade stiffness.