New Project: Best Practice for Oversized/Overweight Vehicles

As hauling practices change for waste collection, mining and other industries, local transportation agencies are receiving more permit requests for oversize or overweight trucks. These larger vehicles can have significantly greater impacts on pavements than passenger vehicles.

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While previous research provided recommendations for estimating pavement impacts from large trucks, advances in technology and knowledge suggest several refinements. A new tool could assess the impacts of differences in climate and seasonal conditions, road geometry and signage needs, and rigid and flexible pavements.

Updated guidance on permitting large trucks will support local agencies by identifying potential pavement damage from different load configurations. Additionally, understanding the economic impacts to agencies and taxpayers compared to the benefits to haulers will help when communicating with road users and elected officials.

“We need this research to increase our understanding of pavement impacts of large, heavy trucks,” said Aaron VanMoer, highway engineer, Lyon County. “Identifying costs and benefits of these trucks traveling our roads will support our permitting decisions and ultimately protect our pavements.”

Objectives

In a new project, researchers will develop an easy-to-use tool for evaluating pavement impacts and associated costs and benefits of permitting oversize or overweight trucks. Additional information will support local agencies in communicating with road users and elected officials.

The objectives are:

Collect data on vehicle load distributions and impacts of large truck configurations on pavement life
Develop factors and procedures for determining pavement damage and potential failure from large trucks
Create a road life consumption calculator to estimate costs of pavement damage
Develop a communications guide for explaining costs and benefits of permitting large trucks