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Module-3 Axle Load - ESAL and Damaging Effect of Axle Load
Module-3 Axle Load - ESAL and Damaging Effect of Axle Load
18,000 lb.
As a rule-of-thumb, the load equivalency of a
particular load (and also the pavement damage
imparted by a particular load) is roughly related to
the load by a power of four (for reasonably strong
pavement surfaces). For example, a 36,000 lb.
single axle load will cause about 16 times the
damage as an 18,000 lb. single axle load. The
graph using some approximations, shows some
general vehicle load equivalencies - note that
buses tend to have high load equivalency factors
because although they may be lighter than a
loaded 18-wheeler, they only have two or three
axles instead of five.
As a rule-of-thumb, the load equivalency of a
particular load (and also the pavement damage
imparted by a particular load) is roughly related to
the load by a power of four (for reasonably strong
pavement surfaces). For example, a 36,000 lb. single
axle load will cause about 16 times the damage as an
18,000 lb. single axle load. The graph using some
approximations, shows some general vehicle load
equivalencies - note that buses tend to have high load
equivalency factors because although they may be
lighter than a loaded 18-wheeler, they only have two
or three axles instead of five.
DAMAGING EFFECT OF
AXLE LOADS
The damaging effects of lighter and heavier axles were
expressed as equivalence factors as shown in Table. The
equivalence factor of 0.0002 for the 910-kg axle load
means that 5000 passes of such an axle would do the
same damaging effect as one pass of standard axle.
*Standard axle
AXLE LOAD & RELATIVE DAMAGE
75.2
80
63.4
70
53.1
DAMAGE PER PASS
60
44.1
50
36.3
29.5
40
23.8
18.9
30
14.9
11.5
20 8.7
6.5
4.7
3.3
10
2.3
1.1
1.0
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
SINGLE AXLE LOAD (Tons)
LEF Example
The standard axle weights for a standing-room-only loaded Metro
articulated bus (60 ft. Flyer) are:
Axle Empty Full
Steering 13,000 lb. 17,000 lb.
Middle 15,000 lb. 20,000 lb.
Rear 9,000 lb. 14,000 lb.
Using the 4th power approximation, determine the total equivalent
damage caused by this bus in terms of ESALs when it is empty.
How about when it is full?
Traffic Loads Characterization
Equivalent
18000 - Damage
Standard ESAL Ibs per Pass =
Axle Load (8.2 tons) 1
=
8.2 tons axle i.e,
=
4.1 Tons 8.2 Tons
Axle Axle