Pavement Performance Analysis for Overweight Trucks in Texas

Traditional infrastructure funding sources have become insufficient because of increasing transportation demands and the impact of overweight (OW) vehicles, underscoring the need for a thorough evaluation of heavy traffic’s effects. This study presents a methodology to quantify the impact of OW vehicles on pavement performance and estimate the costs needed to offset their burden. The concept of the equivalent consumption factor (ECF) is introduced, and models are developed for various pavement structures and failure mechanisms. The analysis focuses on the Texas highway infrastructure system. Results indicate that the deterioration rate, represented by the power-law relationship between load ratio and damage, was lower for rigid pavements compared with asphalt concrete, except in cases of transverse cracking. For asphalt concrete, ECF values varied with the Structural Number when rutting was the primary failure mechanism. Flexible pavements generally required different ECF models, depending on axle configuration, whereas a single model sufficed for all rigid pavements. Using Texas’s low-bid unit prices, the cost per mile attributable to OW vehicles was calculated. Despite lower mileage, OW vehicles imposed per-mile costs at least 50% higher than commercial vehicles with greater mileage. The proposed methodology could potentially provide state highway agencies a tool to assess truck permit fees, enabling additional revenue generation and promoting sustainable infrastructure funding.