Traffic Analysis

Road loading takes many different forms, from a bicycle to multi-axled truck and trailer combinations. Traffic Analysis can be split into two well defined areas:

Traffic Volume - This is the role of the Traffic Engineer and does not normally

concern the Civil Engineer. This is not relevant to determining the load on the road, only the size and layout. Traffic Loading - This is the role of the Pavement Engineer and involves determining the loading on the road to be carried forward to the Pavement Design.

Traffic Volume
The role of the traffic engineer is to enable all traffic to travel on the road at a reasonable speed and with an appropriate degree of safety. This is not the loading that is used in the Pavement Design. These values are used to determine the road width only. With relation to the volume of traffic using the road, the passenger car is adopted as the standard unit and other vehicles are assessed in terms of passenger car units (pcu). The classification of vehicles in pcu's is shown below:
Type of Vehicle Private cars, motor cycle combinations, taxis and light private goods vehicles up to 1.5t unladen Motorcycles (solo), scooters and mopeds Goods vehicles over 1.5t unladen weight Rural 1 1 3 Urban 1 0.75 2

Differences in the urban and rural situations arise due to the variation of speeds in the two areas. Decisions on road width are not normally made on total traffic flow per day as this is misleading but rather on the peak hourly flow. In Britain the maximum

permissible flow is 3,000 pcu/h for a two lane dual carriageway and 4,500 pcu/h for a three lane dual carriageway (motorway). For all purpose roads with junctions these figures reduce to 1,100 and 1,900 pcu/h respectively. Where the road is new, studies must be carried out to estimate the volume of traffic expected to use the road. Where the new road replaces existing roads this is not too difficult. If however the road is expected to change the flow of traffic then analysis should be carried out as to the volume and constitution of traffic on the new road. Matters are further complicated if the road is very long or provides access to or from a large town. Computer methods are now available to aid in this process. The constitution of traffic on the new road is of interest to the pavement engineer.
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Traffic Loading
In this section, we will discuss the traffic loading that is taken forward to the pavement design section. Unlike in the above section where Passenger Car Units were the reference unit, we will work in Standard Axles. This is a reference unit to determine the average loading on a pavement by what is known as the standard axle. This then allows a total loading over the life of the pavement to be determined, normally in Millions of Standard Axles (msa).

The map alongside can be used as a guide to the process of assessing the road loading. Clicking on the desired area of the map will take you to the desired section. When you have finished a particular section, if you wish to return to the map then use the back button on the browser or click on the map link. It is highly recommended that you follow the logical progression of the map.

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General Information The role of the pavement engineer is to provide an adequate thickness of pavement to carry the expected loads without deterioration of the network during the design life. It has been shown that damage increases sharply with axle loading and for this reason only the effect of vehicles over 1.5t unladen weight are considered. These vehicles are then divided into the following categories:
Vehicle classifications Buses and Coaches 2 axle rigid PSV Typical wear factor 1.3

OGV1

0.34

3 axle rigid

1.7

3 axle articulated

1.65

4 axle rigid

3.0

4 axle articulated

OGV2

2.6

5 axle or more Return to top of page. Return to Map

3.5

Traffic Volume The first aspect of the design depends upon the type of construction. If the road is completely new then you need to decide on the method to use. If the road is already built and needs repairing then the first stage is a traffic count. These web pages however are concerned only with new roads and as such this information is not included. It may be at some type in the future so do check again. If you are interested then fill in the feedback form and let me know! A link to the form is at the bottom of this page.
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Assessment Methods There are two methods of assessing the road loading on the pavement, standard and non-standard. The standard method should always be used when the design is for a new road. If it is not possible to use this method then permission to use the nonstandard method must be sought. For road maintenance either method can be used.
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Standard Method The standard method should be used for all new road design. If you have not read the general information about vehicle classifications then do so now! It is firstly necessary to determine the total flow of commercial vehicles per day (cv/day) and the percentage of which are OGV2. There are different ways of estimating the flow of traffic and the one chosen depends on the reason for the count.

If the road is new then the estimation is performed by traffic engineer and is purely theoretical. For maintenance design a classified count is carried out over either a 12, 16 or 24 hour period

These figures must then be turned into a figure representing the loading on the road over the design life in terms of millions of standard axles (msa). This figure is then used in the pavement design directly to calculate the pavement thickness. The procedure for doing this is as described in the Department of Transport design manual1 and is standard practice in the United Kingdom. If conducted outside the UK then reference should be made to the appropriate body, some of which are contained in the links page, a link to which can be found adjacent. The design chart used depends on the type of pavement, the number of carriageways and the chosen design life. Once these are known the design traffic can be read directly from the charts such as the one below.

Figure 3 - Design Traffic for Flexible (20 year life) and Flexible Composite Pavements - Single Carriageway

Other design charts are available for the other combinations. In order to reduce the space taken up on the page, all the design charts can be viewed by clicking on the links below. It is a fairly large page so please be patient as it loads up.

Figure 3 - Design Traffic for Flexible (20 year life) and Flexible Composite

Pavements - Single Carriageway Figure 4 - Design Traffic for Flexible (20 year life) and Flexible Composite Pavements - Dual Carriageway Figure 5 - Design Traffic for Rigid, Rigid Composite and Flexible (40 year life) Pavements - Single Carriageway Figure 6 - Design Traffic for Rigid, Rigid Composite and Flexible (40 year life) Pavements - Dual Carriageway

If you are unsure as to the different types of pavement then you should consult the Pavement Design page, a link to which is on the side panel. If you are using the Standard method then the values obtained from the graph should be taken straight to the pavement design section.
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Non-Standard Method This method is primarily for use in structural assessment and maintenance design and prior approval must be obtained before using it. It is however useful to understand the method as this is extremely descriptive and helps understanding of the standard method. Once the initial loadings are known for each category in terms of an average annual daily flow (AADF), it is necessary to determine a growth factor (G), a wear factor (W) and a design life (Y) in years. Typical values for each of the vehicle categories are shown in the table above. If the loading is broken down only into OGV1/PSV and OGV2 then wear factors of 0.6 and 3.0 respectively are common. The growth factor is determined from design charts and varies according to design period growthrate and whether the road is new or not. The design charts for both new and old roads can be found by following the links below:

Figure 7 -Derivation of Growth Factor for New Roads Figure 8 - Derivation of Growth Factor for Past Traffic

The bold lines on the charts represent the National Road Traffic Forecast (NRTF) values and may be used when no other data is available. Once all of these factors have been determined then the loading in msa can be determined from the formula: Traffic (msa) = 365*(AADF)*Y*G*W*10-6 An example of a typical traffic analysis can be found in the problems section of the page. Also included is an Excel spreadsheet containing the calculations and a template sheet for further calculations.

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Multi Lane Roads If the road design is single lane then the figure obtained by the methods above is the final value carried forward to the pavement design. If the road is multi laned then it is necessary to decide on the loading on the near side lane, the design load. The proportion of traffic in the near side lane of a dual carriageway can be determined from the figure below.

Figure 9 Proportion of traffic in the Left Hand Lane

Where the flow is greater than 30,000 cv/day then a value of 50% should be used. For roads wider than 2 lanes then the design load is determined as below:

Figure 10 Design Traffic in Outer Lanes Return to top of page. Return to Map

Problems
A traffic survey for a proposed trunk road gives the following count data (converted into Average Annual Daily Flow in one direction):
Buses & Coaches 2 Axle rigid 3 Axle rigid 3 Axle articulated 40 28 5 4 Axle rigid 5 Axle or more 40 55 41

201 4 Axle articulated

Using the Structural Assessment & Maintenance method calculate the design traffic (msa) for a design life of 20 years given the following:
Category OGV1 & PSV OGV2 Growth Factor 1.05 1.3 Wear Factor 0.6 3.0

ANS=5.13 msa

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References
1) Department of Transport, Design Manual for roads and bridges, Volume 7, Pavement design and maintenance, 1994. Available on-line at http://www.standardsforhighways.co.uk/dmrb/index.htm.
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e-mail: D.G.Toll@Durham.ac.uk.

Last Updated:25 February 1997