Impacts of Reduced Tire Pressure on Strain Response of Thaw-Weakened, Low-Volume Roads in Manitoba, Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 2203 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingfan Liu ◽  
Leonnie Kavanagh ◽  
Ahmed Shalaby
Author(s):  
Maureen A. Kestler ◽  
Richard L. Berg ◽  
Thomas L. Moore

Heavy-volume highways in seasonal frost areas are designed to resist the effects of spring thaw. However, timber access roads, county roads, and other low-volume roads with thin bituminous surfaces can be quite susceptible to pavement damage during midwinter- and spring-thaw periods. To reduce damage to low-volume roads, towns, cities, and states typically either post reductions in allowable load or completely prohibit hauling during damage-susceptible periods. Associated economic impact can be significant. To evaluate the effects of tire pressure on cumulative road damage, a mechanistic pavement design procedure developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for use in seasonal frost areas was used on a matrix of tire pressures, low-volume pavement cross sections, and environmental conditions. A series of computer simulations showed ( a) trucks operating with conventional tire pressures can cause excessive damage, particularly in the form of cracking, to low-volume roads with thin bituminous surfaces during relatively short thaw periods; ( b) pavement damage could be reduced substantially by restricting hauling to trucks operating with reduced tire pressures; and ( c) there are “threshold” tire pressures under which only minimal damage occurs, even during critical spring thaw. These results could influence guidelines for hauling restrictions and, in turn, associated economics.


2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 679-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Shalaby ◽  
Alan Reggin

In Canada, over 300 heavy vehicles equipped with central tire inflation systems are being used in forestry, mining, and grain hauling. Since 1995, Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation has permitted truck fleets to operate with primary highway axle loads on secondary highways under a partnership program. This paper reports on the comparison of rutting progression on an accelerated field experiment utilizing standard and reduced tire pressures. The experiment was conducted by Saskatchewan Highways and Transportation in the Big Quill Lake area of southern Saskatchewan. The vehicles used in the experiment were nine-axle B trains, eight-axle B trains, and six-axle semi-trailers. The statistical analysis of rutting data presented in the paper shows that reduced tire pressures can effectively extend the pavement service life of gravel and thin membrane surfaced roads. On the thin membrane pavements, there was less rutting on the low-pressure lane until twice as many vehicles had trafficked the road, and rutting was no worse on the low-pressure lane even when 10 times as many vehicles had trafficked the road. On the gravel surface, rut depth was lower on the low-pressure lane until twice as many trucks had trafficked that lane.Key words: rutting, pavement, central tire inflation, tire pressure, low-volume roads, unsurfaced roads.


Author(s):  
Maureen A. Kestler ◽  
Richard L. Berg ◽  
John E. Haddock

Major highways are designed to withstand heavy vehicles and high volumes of traffic year round. However, low-volume roads in seasonal frost areas are highly susceptible to damage from trafficking by heavy vehicles during spring thaw. Conventional practice is to place partial or full spring load restrictions on low-volume roads during spring thaw. This practice reduces road damage significantly. However, companies whose livelihood depends on trucking can suffer major economic losses as they await the removal of load restrictions. Using reduced tire pressure constitutes a less conventional technique that can reduce springtime damage. Reducing tire pressure generally appears to be less effective than reducing load. Nevertheless, it does appear that the load restriction window can be shortened in duration by implementing a reduction in tire pressure for a few weeks, starting toward the latter part of the standard spring load restriction period. With a mechanistic pavement design and evaluation model for seasonal frost areas, a critical combination of load and tire pressure reduction was developed; it contributes to optimizing the balance between minimizing springtime road damage and minimizing disruption to local economies caused by load restrictions. This analysis constitutes the first step in the development of simplified, general application guidelines for shortening the springtime load restriction window for a variety of pavement structures.


Author(s):  
Suraj Pinate ◽  
Hitesh Sonawane ◽  
Jayesh Barhate ◽  
Mayur Chaudhari ◽  
Utkarsha Dhok ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Affan Habib ◽  
Mustaque Hossain ◽  
Rajesh Kaldate ◽  
Glenn Fager

Superpave and Marshall mix designs using local aggregates were done to study the suitability of the Superpave mix design as compared with the Marshall mix design for low-volume roads, especially shoulders. The project site was Kansas Route 177 in northeast Kansas. Three locally available aggregates, crushed limestone and coarse and fine river sands, were used in this study. Five blends with varying proportions of coarse and fine river sands were selected. Mix samples were compacted in the Superpave gyratory compactor with the applicable number of gyrations and were compacted with the Marshall hammer by using 50 blows per face. Bulk densities of the compacted samples and maximum specific gravities of loose samples also were measured for each blend. The results show that the Superpave mix design for low-volume roads and shoulders results in lower estimated asphalt content than does the Marshall method. The required asphalt content increases as the proportion of coarse river sand increases in the mix. Superpave requirements for the voids filled with asphalt (VFA) for low-volume traffic, that is, less than 0.3 million equivalent single-axle loads, appeared to be too high. High asphalt film thicknesses were computed for the mixtures that did not meet the Superpave VFA requirements. Lowering the design number of gyrations (Ndes) for compaction of samples would result in increased asphalt requirement for the Superpave mixture with a given gradation.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1819 (1) ◽  
pp. 338-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Oloo ◽  
Rob Lindsay ◽  
Sam Mothilal

The geology of the northeastern part of the province of KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa, is predominantly alluvial with vast deposits of sands. Suitable gravel sources are hard to come by, which results in high graveling and regraveling costs brought about by long haul distances and accelerated gravel loss. Most gravel roads carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day of which less than 10% are heavy vehicles. The high cost of regraveling has led to consideration of upgrading such roads to surfaced standard, even though traffic volumes do not justify upgrading. Traditional chip seals are expensive and cannot be economically justified on roads that carry fewer than 500 vehicles per day. The KwaZulu–Natal Department of Transport is actively involved in efforts to identify cost-effective alternative surfacing products for low-volume roads. Field trials were conducted with Otta seals and Gravseals, which have been used successfully in other countries, as low-cost surfacing products for low-volume roads. The Otta seal is formed by placing graded aggregates on a relatively thick film of soft binder that, because of traffic and rolling, works its way through the aggregates. Gravseal consists of a special semipriming rubberized binder that is covered by a graded aggregate. Both Otta seals and Gravseals provide relatively flexible bituminous surfaces suitable for low-volume roads. Cost savings are derived mainly from the broad aggregate specifications, which allow for the use of marginal materials.


Author(s):  
Washington Peres Núñez ◽  
Jorge Augusto Pereira Ceratti ◽  
Luiz Antônio Bressani ◽  
Rinaldo José Barbosa Pinheiro ◽  
Vinicius Peraça ◽  
...  

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