Performance-Based Design of Highway Infrastructure for Heavy Vehicles

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The proposed research program develops a new, comprehensive knowledge base about heavy vehicle traffic and loading to support performance-based design of highway infrastructure. The impetus for the research arises from advancements in the state-of-the-practice for the design of pavements and bridges, which increasingly requires detailed characterization of heavy vehicle activity. Moreover, given the large and growing transportation infrastructure deficit, there is an urgent need for civil engineers to adopt new practices to improve infrastructure design and the assessment of its performance. While there are a variety of data sources available to characterize heavy vehicle activity, there remains a significant knowledge gap concerning how these disparate datasets may be integrated within a systematic framework to enable development of sufficiently detailed and reliable indicators of this activity. These indicators are the inputs required for performance-based design. The proposed research program addresses this knowledge gap.****The objectives of the proposed research are to: (1) develop a generic, conceptual framework for modelling heavy vehicle traffic and loading characteristics; (2) develop pragmatic models for integrating existing datasets to facilitate analysis and create new knowledge about heavy vehicle traffic and loading; and (3) analyze heavy vehicle activity to establish indicators needed for the design of highway infrastructure and the assessment of its performance. The applicant proposes to achieve these objectives by using the transportation systems analysis approach as the basis for model development, validation, and application. Ultimately, the research aims to improve the long-term performance of highway infrastructure in Canada by clarifying issues that should be considered in the design of highway infrastructure, informing better decision-making through the creation of integrated datasets, and adding to the pool of highly qualified personnel addressing these issues in the future.******************************