“COMPUTATION OF DESIGN TRAFFIC

VOLUME FROM FIELD DATA”

i)CALCULATION OF AADT FROM ADT

ii)CALCULATION OF DESIGN TRAFFIC FOR PAVEMENT
DESIGN

Prepared By
Taranath Sigdel
075MsTrE020
 What is traffic volume study?
 By traffic volume studies we usally refers determining the
number,movements and classifications of roadway vehicles at a
given locations.

Design
Purposes

Dynamic
Improvement Traffic
General
Purposes Management
Objectives
Purposes

Planning
Purposes
 SPECIALLY

The specific objective of this study is to perform traffic volume data

collection and analysis of the link road between………

1. Determination of vehicle composition of traffic stream.

2. To determine service flow rate in PCU.
3.To determine directional distribution.
5. To draw flow fluctuation curve.
4. Estimation of Average Daily Traffic (ADT) & Annual Average
Daily Traffic (AADT) based on expansion factor.
 Definition of some terms
ADT
 ADT means the volume of traffic passing a point or segment of a highway, in
both directions, during a period of time(7 days-24hr, IRC37-2012), divided
by the number of days in the period.
 It is acquired through actual traffic counts on the roadway sections.

𝑆𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 3−𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒(𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)

ADT= 3

AADT
 Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is the total volume of vehicle traffic on
a highway or road for a year divided by 365 days.
 AADT is a useful and simple measurement of how busy a road is.
 It is acquired by using seasonal factors on ADT.

AADT=Seasonal factors * ADT

Hourly Expansion Factor

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 24−ℎ𝑟

HEP= 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟

Daily Expansion Factor

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘

DEF= 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝐷𝑎𝑦
Seasonal Adjustment Factors

 Traffic is typically affected by the seasons of the year with it being low
during the winter months and high during the summer months.
 Seasonal Adjustment Factors are used to remove this seasonal bias by
converting the Average Daily Traffic (ADT) from short count data into
Annual Average Daily Traffic AADT.
 AADT is the average daily traffic for the entire year.

 The main objective of the continuous count program is for developing
Seasonal Adjustment Factors .
 The Seasonal Adjustment Factors are calculated using the average of three
years of continuous count volume data.
 No of vehicles

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

6:00-7:00
8:00-9:00
10:00-11:00
12:00-13:00
No of vehicles
14:00-15:00

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
16:00-17:00
18:00-19:00

Time
20:00-21:00
22:00-23:00
24:00-1:00
2:00-3:00
4:00-5:00

Time
No of Veh day 1

No of vehicles

Hourly variation of traffic

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900

6:00-7:00
8:00-9:00
10:00-11:00
12:00-13:00
14:00-15:00
16:00-17:00
18:00-19:00
Time

20:00-21:00
22:00-23:00
No of Veh day 3

24:00-1:00
2:00-3:00
4:00-5:00
No of Veh day 2
 900

800

700

600
No of vehicles

500

No of Veh day 1
400 No of Veh day 2
No of Veh day 3
300 Average

200

100

Time

Daily variation of traffic

 Truck Multi-axle
Truck Heavy
Truck Light
Bus Big
Bus Mini
Bus Micro
Car/Taxi
MC
Utility Vehicles
Tractor
Motorised Three Wheeler
Four Wheel Drive
Power Tiller
Rickshaws
Bullock Cart/Tanga

Composition of vehicles
 Volume of Vehicle

Truck Bus Utility Motorise Four Bullock

Multi- Heav Mic Car/T Vehicl d Three Wheel Power Ricksha Cart/Ta
axle y Light Big Mini ro axi MC es Tractor Wheeler Drive Tiller ws nga Total
Grand Total 3 days
79 148 103 312 568 524 2289 13175 1128 538 7171 989 9 0 12
traffic
Average Daily Traffic
26 49 34 104 189 175 763 4392 376 179 2390 330 3 0 4
(ADT)
Composition (%) 0.29 0.55 0.38 1.15 2.10 1.94 8.46 48.72 4.17 1.99 26.52 3.66 0.03 0.00 0.04 -
Composition excl. MC,
rickshaws (%) 0.01 1.07 0.74 2.25 4.10 3.78 16.50 8.13 3.88 51.70 7.13 0.06 0.09 -
Average Annual Daily
Traffic (AADT) 24 45 31 95 172 159 694 3996 342 163 2175 300 3 0 4 8204
AADT excl. MC,
Rickshaws 24 45 31 95 172 159 694 0 342 163 2175 300 3 0 4 4207
PCU Factors 4.00 3.00 1.50 3.00 2.50 1.50 1.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 0.75 1.00 1.50 1.00 2.00 -
AADT in PCUs 96 135 47 284 431 238 694 1998 342 245 1631 300 4 0 7 6453
AADT in PCUs excl.
MC & Rickshaws 96 135 47 284 431 238 694 0 342 245 1631 300 4 0 7 4455

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 3 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 AADT in PCU’s = AADT * PCU Factor

ADT= 3

AADT= Seasonal Factor * ADT

 500

450

400

350

300
No of vehicles

250

Birtamod to Chandragadhi
200
Chandragadhi to Birtamod
150

100

50

Time

Directional split of vehicles

 500

450

400

350

300
No of vehicles

250

200 Birtamod to Chandragadhi

Chandragadhi to Birtamod
150

100

50

Time
 No of vehicles

50

0
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500

6:00-7:00
7:00-8:00
8:00-9:00
9:00-10:00
10:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-13:00
13:00-14:00
14:00-15:00
15:00-16:00
16:00-17:00
17:00-18:00

Time
18:00-19:00
19:00-20:00
20:00-21:00
21:00-22:00
22:00-23:00
23:00-24:00
24:00-1:00
1:00-2:00
2:00-3:00
3:00-4:00
4:00-5:00
5:00-6:00
Chandragadhi to Birtamod
Birtamod to Chandragadhi
 500

450

400

350

300
No of vehicles

250

Birtamod to Chandragadhi
200
Chandragadhi to Birtamod

150

100

50

Time

Directional Distribution of vehicles

Traffic Data Required For Pavement Design
The method considers traffic in terms of the cumulative number of
standard axles (8160 kg) to be carried by the pavement during the design
life. This requires the following information:(IRC37-2012)

 Initial traffic in terms of CVPD

 Traffic growth rate during the design life

 Design life in number of years

 Vehicle damage factor (VDF)

 Distribution of commercial traffic over the carriage way.

 CVPD
 For the structural design of the pavement only commercial vehicles are
considered assuming laden weight of three tonnes or more and their axle
loading will be considered. (IRC37-2012)
 Estimate of the initial daily average traffic flow for any road should
normally be based on 7-day 24-hour classified traffic counts (ADT).
 In case of new roads, traffic estimates can be made on the basis of
potential land use and traffic on existing routes in the area.

Truck Bus
Day
Multi-axle Heavy Light Big Mini Micro
1 43 45 40 145 204 194
2 21 21 36 35 147 149
3 15 82 27 132 217 181
Total 79 148 103 312 568 524
ADT 26 49 34 104 189 175
 Traffic growth rate
 Traffic growth rates can be estimated
i) by studying the past trends of traffic growth.
ii) by establishing econometric models.

 If the data for the annual growth rate of commercial vehicles is not
available or if it is less than 5 per cent, a growth rate of 5 per cent
should be used (IRC:SP:84-2009).
 Design Life
 The design life is defined in terms of the cumulative number of standard
axles in msa that can be carried before a major strengthening,
rehabilitation or capacity augmentation of the pavement is necessary.

 It is recommended that pavements for National Highways and State

Highways should be designed for a minimum life of 15 years.

 Expressways and Urban Roads may be designed for a longer life of 20

years or higher using innovative design adopting high fatigue
bituminous mixes. In the light of experience in India and abroad, very
high volume roads with design traffic greater than 200 msa and
perpetual pavements can also be designed using the principles stated in
the guidelines. For other categories of roads, a design life of 10 to 15
years may be adopted.
 Vehicle Damage Factor
 The Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF) is a multiplier to convert the
number of commercial vehicles of different axle loads and axle
configuration into the number of repetitions of standard axle load of
magnitude 80 kN.
 It is defined as equivalent number of standard axles per commercial
vehicle. The VDF varies with the vehicle axle configuration and axle
loading.

𝐴𝑥𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝑁
VDF= ( )^4
80
 Axle Load Survey
Registration Vehicle Front Rear Axle Rear Axle
S.N Number From To Type Wheels Loading Nature of Load Axle (R1) (R2) Total Load
1 NA2KHA9076 Janakpur Chitwan Truck 6 Empty 4290 6240 10530
2 NA7KHA4094 Pathlaiya Amlekhgunj Tanker 10 Empty 5270 14340 19610
3 NA4KHA8459 Parwanipur Nawalparasi Truck 12 Full Paper 6470 5860 11850 24180
4 NA6KHA2211 Biratnagar Kathmandu Truck 12 Full Sugar 6720 5210 22860 34790
5 NA6KHA3437 Piluwa Hetauda Truck 12 Full Brick 7480 6390 22580 36450
6 NA5KHA7879 Birgunj Mahendranagar Bus 6 Full Passengers 4800 8460 13260
7 BA5KHA84 Janakpur Chitwan Bus 6 Full Passengers 5500 9890 15390
8 NA4KHA8775 Sarlahi Kathmandu Truck 6 Full Husk 2800 10290 13090
9 NA6KHA4289 Pathlaiya Hetauda Truck 14 Empty 2610 5050 9980 17640
10 NA3KHA7625 Biratnagar Pokhara Truck 6 Full Paper 2260 6200 8460
11 NA2KHA9007 Biratnagar Dhangadhi Truck 6 Full Miscellaneous 7130 7520 14650
 Axle Loading Pattern of Long Route Large Buses

14

12
11.53
10

8
Axle Load in Tonnes

6 6.64

4 4.8

0
Front Axle Rear Axle GVW
 Distribution Factor
 Distribution of commercial traffic in each direction and in each lane is required for
determining the total equivalent standard axle load applications to be considered in the
design.
 In the absence of adequate and conclusive data, the following distribution may be
assumed.
(i) Single-lane roads
The design should be based on total number of commercial vehicles in both directions.

(ii) Two-lane single carriageway roads

The design should be based on 50% of the total number of commercial vehicles in both
directions. If vehicle damage factor in one direction is higher, the traffic in the direction of
higher VDF is recommended for design.

(iii) Four-lane single carriageway roads

The design should be based on 40% of the total number of commercial vehicles in both
directions.

(iv) Dual carriageway roads

The design of dual two-lane carriageway roads should be based on 75 % of the number of
commercial vehicles in each direction. For dual three-lane carriageway and dual four lane
carriageway, the distribution factor will be 60 % and 45 % respectively.
Computation of Design Traffic
The design traffic in terms of the cumulative number of standard axles to be carried
during the design life of the road should be computed using the following equation:

𝟑𝟔𝟓∗𝑨∗𝑫∗𝑭∗{ 𝟏+𝒓 𝒏 −𝟏}

N=
𝒓
N = Cumulative number of standard axles to be catered for in the design in terms of
msa.
A - Initial traffic in the year of completion of construction in terms of the number of
Commercial Vehicles Per Day (CVPD).
D = Lane distribution factor
F = Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF).
n = Design life in years.
r = Annual growth rate of commercial vehicles in decimal (e.g., for 5 per cent
annual growth rate, r = 0.05)
THANK YOU…