8th International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets REDUCTION LIFE ON FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS IN BOGOTÁ DUE TO OVERLOADING TRUCK TRAFFIC

The most important factors on life cost analysis and serviceability of roads and bridges are the vehicle loads and traffic volume. The traffic effect is related to the vehicle types and the load carrying capacity. In general, many countries and cities have a standard legal axle load limit. In Colombia, the Minister of Transport is responsible for establishing the maximum load in highways. The country´s economic growth has improved during the last years. Therefore, most on-road vehicles have a total weight that exceeds the legal load limit. This additional load damages the pavement structure and reduces exponentially its life span. In order to establish maintenance strategies for the city´s road network, the local government is interested in determining the actual vehicle loading. Bogota´s road network represents 35 % of the total roads built in Colombia. Taking into consideration the length of paved roads in the city (around 16.000 km), the first step towards a life cost analysis is to select an important and representative section of the city´s road network. This study aims to evaluate the reduction in flexible pavement life of an urban highway (Boyacá Avenue) in Bogotá, due to an increase of loads. Boyacá Avenue is a high-capacity urban road that crosses from north to south the west side of the city. This road is 35 km in length and was built entirely in flexible pavement. Damages on the pavement structure will determine the maintenance criteria and rehabilitation program to be implemented by the local government. KEY WORDS: flexible pavement, increase of loads, pavement damage