TY - JOUR
T1 - Innovative method for evaluating overweight vehicle permits
AU - Chou, Karen C.
AU - Deatherage, James H.
AU - Leatherwood, Terry D.
AU - Khayat, Amjad J.
PY - 1999/8
Y1 - 1999/8
N2 - Any vehicle whose gross weight exceeds 356 kN (80,000 lb) and/or does not conform to the restriction imposed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) requires a permit issued by TDOT in order to use the Tennessee roads. The current practice in the TDOT Permit Section is that a detailed structural analysis is required for all vehicles with a gross weight over 667.5 kN (150,000 lb). Due to the volume of overload permit applications received, this policy resulted in a large demand in man-hours to perform the structural analysis. Furthermore, the policy does not give consistently safe or conservative assessment. A method has been developed empirically to efficiently extract any suspicious overweight vehicle requesting a permit, regardless of gross weight, for further detailed analysis. The technique utilizes the combination of gross weight, axle loads, and axle spacings. The algorithm can be easily implemented to a computer program for users with limited technical training, since the only input information is the axle load and spacing configurations. The method is intended to be conservative. A study, based on actual permit applications and detailed bridge analyses, has shown that this approach would reduce the number of structural analyses required by approximately 50% when compared to the current policy.
AB - Any vehicle whose gross weight exceeds 356 kN (80,000 lb) and/or does not conform to the restriction imposed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) requires a permit issued by TDOT in order to use the Tennessee roads. The current practice in the TDOT Permit Section is that a detailed structural analysis is required for all vehicles with a gross weight over 667.5 kN (150,000 lb). Due to the volume of overload permit applications received, this policy resulted in a large demand in man-hours to perform the structural analysis. Furthermore, the policy does not give consistently safe or conservative assessment. A method has been developed empirically to efficiently extract any suspicious overweight vehicle requesting a permit, regardless of gross weight, for further detailed analysis. The technique utilizes the combination of gross weight, axle loads, and axle spacings. The algorithm can be easily implemented to a computer program for users with limited technical training, since the only input information is the axle load and spacing configurations. The method is intended to be conservative. A study, based on actual permit applications and detailed bridge analyses, has shown that this approach would reduce the number of structural analyses required by approximately 50% when compared to the current policy.
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U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0702(1999)4:3(221)
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0702(1999)4:3(221)
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0032634886
SN - 1084-0702
VL - 4
SP - 221
EP - 227
JO - Journal of Bridge Engineering
JF - Journal of Bridge Engineering
IS - 3
ER -