Evaluation of Truck Factors for Pavement Design in Developing Countries

The traffic represents a fundamental parameter used in the analysis and design of pavement structures. In order to simplify the characterization of the traffic variable for pavement structural analysis and design, the vehicle axles are converted to a number of 80 kN Equivalent Single Axle Loads (ESALs) through the Load Equivalency Factors (LEF). A Truck Factor represents the ESALs applications per commercial vehicle. This study determined the Truck Factors for commercial vehicles operating in Colombia. The high Truck Factor values found in this investigation could be used to explain the current critical condition of Colombian road infrastructure