Impact of time coverage of traffic data collection on Pavement ME Design

The Pavement ME Design requires a full axle-load spectrum mainly based on continuous site-specific Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) data for each axle type and axle group. However, collecting high quality permanent WIM data is expensive and challenging. Many state DOTs have to rely on various traffic data collection technologies with different time coverage for the implementation of Pavement ME Design. In this paper, twelve traffic data input scenarios are developed to simulate various lengths of time coverage of traffic data collated at 20 WIM sites in Oklahoma. Pavement ME Design runs are performed to evaluate the impacts of the length of traffic data on predicted pavement performance. This study establishes a framework for state highway agencies to develop the requirements of traffic data collection efforts for Pavement ME Design.