Clustering Analysis to Characterize Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide Traffic Data in North Carolina

2010 ◽  
Vol 2160 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Sayyady ◽  
John R. Stone ◽  
Kent L. Taylor ◽  
Fadi M. Jadoun ◽  
Y. Richard Kim
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jieyi Bao ◽  
Xiaoqiang Hu ◽  
Cheng Peng ◽  
Yi Jiang ◽  
Shuo Li ◽  
...  

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) has been employed for pavement design by the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) since 2009 and has generated efficient pavement designs with a lower cost. It has been demonstrated that the success of MEPDG implementation depends largely on a high level of accuracy associated with the information supplied as design inputs. Vehicular traffic loading is one of the key factors that may cause not only pavement structural failures, such as fatigue cracking and rutting, but also functional surface distresses, including friction and smoothness. In particular, truck load spectra play a critical role in all aspects of the pavement structure design. Inaccurate traffic information will yield an incorrect estimate of pavement thickness, which can either make the pavement fail prematurely in the case of under-designed thickness or increase construction cost in the case of over-designed thickness. The primary objective of this study was to update the traffic design input module, and thus to improve the current INDOT pavement design procedures. Efforts were made to reclassify truck traffic categories to accurately account for the specific axle load spectra on two-lane roads with low truck traffic and interstate routes with very high truck traffic. The traffic input module was updated with the most recent data to better reflect the axle load spectra for pavement design. Vehicle platoons were analyzed to better understand the truck traffic characteristics. The unclassified vehicles by traffic recording devices were examined and analyzed to identify possible causes of the inaccurate data collection. Bus traffic in the Indiana urban areas was investigated to provide additional information for highway engineers with respect to city streets as well as highway sections passing through urban areas. New equivalent single axle load (ESAL) values were determined based on the updated traffic data. In addition, a truck traffic data repository and visualization model and a TABLEAU interactive visualization dashboard model were developed for easy access, view, storage, and analysis of MEPDG related traffic data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gulfam E. Jannat

The AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) includes empirical distress models that need both global and local calibrations. The local calibration requires developing a database that would reflect local environments, design and maintenance practices in a particular jurisdictional region. The objective of the thesis is to develop a pavement database for local calibration before the MEPDG is to be implemented in Ontario. The database involves a hierarchical framework of the input parameters required for DARWin-ME, and the measured performance data are based on the MTO’s PMS-2. To demonstrate the validity of the developed database a preliminary local calibration including clustering analysis is carried out for the IRI and total rutting. The calibration-validation analysis suggests that the IRI model can be best clustered based on the geographical zone whereas the highway functional class is the best clustering parameter for rutting during the local calibration.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gulfam E. Jannat

The AASHTO Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) includes empirical distress models that need both global and local calibrations. The local calibration requires developing a database that would reflect local environments, design and maintenance practices in a particular jurisdictional region. The objective of the thesis is to develop a pavement database for local calibration before the MEPDG is to be implemented in Ontario. The database involves a hierarchical framework of the input parameters required for DARWin-ME, and the measured performance data are based on the MTO’s PMS-2. To demonstrate the validity of the developed database a preliminary local calibration including clustering analysis is carried out for the IRI and total rutting. The calibration-validation analysis suggests that the IRI model can be best clustered based on the geographical zone whereas the highway functional class is the best clustering parameter for rutting during the local calibration.


2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Ahn ◽  
Srivatsav Kandala ◽  
J. Uzan ◽  
Mohamed El-Basyouny

2013 ◽  
Vol 2339 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derong Mai ◽  
Rod E. Turochy ◽  
David H. Timm

Development of traffic data clusters is crucial for use of the Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) when site-specific traffic data are not available and statewide data are too general. However, a preferred approach to traffic data clustering is not specified in the MEPDG. In current clustering practice, subjective decisions are made about issues such as determination of the number of clusters. This paper presents a new clustering combination method, correlation-based clustering, that considers the effects of traffic inputs on pavement design thicknesses, so that determination of the number of clusters is made objectively. For each traffic input required in the MEPDG, the similarity between two sites is evaluated with Pearson's correlation coefficient. Then, this approach evaluates the sensitivity of pavement design thickness to each traffic input to quantify locations to cut the hierarchical clustering trees, which objectively determines the number of clusters. The MEPDG requires many traffic inputs, including vehicle class distributions, four types of axle load spectra (per vehicle class), monthly and hourly distribution factors, and distributions of axle groups per vehicle. This clustering approach is performed for each traffic input so that a unique set of clusters can be developed for each traffic input. The method has been implemented for 22 direction-specific weigh-in-motion stations in Alabama to identify clusters of sites with similar estimated pavement performance for each traffic input of the MEPDG. This paper illustrates the clustering process for one traffic input (single-axle distribution) and presents clustering results for vehicle class distribution.


Author(s):  
D. J. Swan ◽  
Robert Tardif ◽  
Jerry J. Hajek ◽  
David K. Hein

2003 ◽  
Vol 1855 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weng On Tam ◽  
Harold Von Quintus

Traffic data are a key element for the design and analysis of pavement structures. Automatic vehicle-classification and weigh-in-motion (WIM) data are collected by most state highway agencies for various purposes that include pavement design. Equivalent single-axle loads have had widespread use for pavement design. However, procedures being developed under NCHRP require the use of axle-load spectra. The Long-Term Pavement Performance database contains a wealth of traffic data and was selected to develop traffic defaults in support of NCHRP 1-37A as well as other mechanistic-empirical design procedures. Automated vehicle-classification data were used to develop defaults that account for the distribution of truck volumes by class. Analyses also were conducted to determine direction and lane-distribution factors. WIM data were used to develop defaults to account for the axle-weight distributions and number of axles per vehicle for each truck type. The results of these analyses led to the establishment of traffic defaults for use in mechanistic-empirical design procedures.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document