Bridge’s vehicular loads characterization through Weight-In-Motion (WIM) systems. The case study of Brescia

Abstract

The growing traffic flow and the increase in transported masses negatively affect infrastructural safety. Several authors have characterized traffic loads on bridges in the American and Chinese context using Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems. Conversely, very few studies have been carried out in Europe and, as far as the authors know, none in Italy. This study covers this gap by providing a statistical analysis of raw WIM data collected on a main bridge near the city of Brescia (Italy). First, the traffic flow and the characteristics of vehicles were gathered by a WIM device. Second, some descriptive statistics were performed by computing the probabilistic distributions of numerous vehicular attributes. Third, as a novelty element, a K-means based Clustering technique was adopted on a wide set of vehicular features to detect heavy vehicle clusters. The results showed the existence of three main clusters: two predominately composed by lightly overloaded ordinary vehicles and construction machinery, respectively, and one by mass exceptional vehicles. This study considers a broader set of vehicular parameters than previous ones and then, provides a deeper understanding. Moreover, it shows that axle mass limits violations are noteworthy among mass exceptional vehicles in Italy highlighting the need of improving weight enforcement. These knowledges will be crucial for a rational organisation of the existing assets.

Prediction of the severity of exceeding design traffic loads on highway bridges

“…This outcome might be explained as follows. First, faster vehicles commonly have a lower GVM and are more likely to fall into lighter categories [ 7 ]. Furthermore, as speed increases, vehicles spend less time on the deck, reducing the probability of multiple vehicles being present on the bridge simultaneously.…”

“…Additionally, these systems can collect information on the total amount of traffic that passes on any given roadway, the date, and time that it passes, as well as the speed and the size of the vehicles, the number of axles on those vehicles, the mass acting on each axle, the type of axles, and the interaxle distances [ 6 ]. The main advantage of WIM systems is their ability to capture vehicle parameters in real-time for all passing traffic without the need for a human checker to estimate these data by selecting random vehicles and performing manual weighing operations [ 7 ]. On the one hand, WIM systems are common in certain countries (e.g., China, Canada, and United States), where they are exploited for several purposes, involving, for example, freight movement analysis, traffic flow simulation, weight enforcement, bridge design and management, and road pavement design and management (e.g.…”

Traffic Hazards on Main Road’s Bridges: Real-Time Estimating and Managing the Overload Risk

“…As for (ii), the traffic load acting on bridges was obtained from previously developed models in almost all studies. Indeed, although WIM systems are a well-known technology (e.g., [6]), only a few works analyzed field WIM raw data to propose a risk assessment and mitigation strategy based on maintenance plans. Nonetheless, because of traffic load hazard's strong spatial and temporal dependence, methods that assume actual bridge-specific data as input are essential to achieving an effective risk management strategy.…”

“…Extremely heavy trucks can be subdivided into two categories: Permits (PMTs) and Illegally Overweighted Vehicles (IOVs) ( [6], [7], [8]). PMTs have a Gross Vehicular Mass (GVM) that exceeds the restrictions outlined in the Traffic Code (TC).…”

Modified Asphalt with Graphene-Enhanced Polymeric Compound: A Case Study

“…Today, flexible pavements are used in both low-and high-traffic-volume road infrastructures [1]. However, in recent decades there has been an increase in the dimensions of heavy commercial vehicles [2,3], as well as a rise in the frequency of their passages over pavements [4][5][6][7]. With this in mind, the development of innovative technologies has aimed at improving the mechanical properties of asphalt concrete (AC) in terms of fatigue and rutting resistance [8,9].…”