REDUCING PAVEMENT DISTRESS THROUGH MORE EFFECTIVE VEHICLE CONTROLS ---PRE CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS 3RD IRF MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL MEETING. TOWARDS BETTER ROAD PERFORMANCE, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, 13-18 FEBRUARY 1988. 6 VOLUMES.

It has been long known that heavier axles cause more pavement damage than similar, lighter axles. It has also long been known that pavements would generally last longer if the size and frequency of axle loadings were reduced. The challenge is to find the balance point where weight added to or removed from an axle causes changes in pavement distress that are economically equal to the vehicle operator's changes in associated costs. Determination of this balance point is made more complex by wide variations in the economic worth to individual vehicle operators of additional axle weight and by variations in the damaging potential of a given axle weight depending on tire, suspension, and pavement characteristics. Several approaches to optimizing vehicle axle weights show promise. An economic-efficiency approach could base highway user charges on axle weight and distance travelled and set these charges as closely as possible to the cost of pavement damage done by the axle. Charging fees equal to pavement damage costs would ensure that the economic benefits of heavier axle loads to a vehicle operator at least equal the costs of the axle's pavement damage. Other approaches could be to lower allowable axle weights to the point where existing user fees are adequate to pay for associated pavement damage, or to allow special vehicle configurations with larger number of axles that could carry more freight while causing less pavement damage.(a) for the covering abstract of the proceedings see IRRD 817883.