Knowledge CentreTechnical Resources SearchConference PapersREHABILITATION DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR HAUL ROADS ASSOCIATED WITH A WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

REHABILITATION DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR HAUL ROADS ASSOCIATED WITH A WIND FARM DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Abstract

This paper describes the impact of very heavy vehicles carrying wind turbine components on haul roads and the rehabilitation design methodology that was used for the haul roads located in the Town of Lakeshore in Southwestern Ontario. A wind farm consisting of 72 turbines was constructed in the Town. For the construction of the wind farm, number of turbine components were hauled on a network of rural low-volume roads. The original design and construction of these low-volume roads did not take in to consideration the large wheel loads that would be applied by the wind farm haul traffic. Therefore, the Town of Lakeshore commissioned a study to accomplish the following: • Establish baseline conditions of the roads along the proposed haul route; • Evaluate the pavement condition of the roads after the passage of the haul traffic; • Comparison of the baseline and post-haul pavement condition; and • Rehabilitation recommendations for the roads along the haul route. Pavement condition is typically classified based on four criteria: visual distresses; structural capacity; safety (typically skid resistance); and roughness. For the purpose of this investigation only the first two criteria were used to characterize the condition of the pavement. A pavement condition survey was done for the roads along the haul route both before and after the haul traffic. The pavement structural condition was evaluated by carrying out Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) load/deflection testing. The FWD testing was carried out to determine the baseline structural capacity of the roads and subsequently to quantitatively determine the potential loss in structural capacity due to the haul traffic. FWD data was analyzed to determine the normalized deflection and pavement surface modulus. The normalized deflections were then utilized to determine the remaining life of the pavement. Rehabilitation recommendations were provided for each section of roads along the haul route by combining visual distress observations and comparison of the baseline and post-haul pavement structural condition. The study found that although some of the haul roads experienced significant deterioration after the haul period, still others were found to have adequate bearing capacity and no significant development of visual distresses after the haul period had been completed.

Conference Paper Details

Session title:
PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE CASE STUDIES
Author(s):
Ludomir Uzarowski
Rabiah Rizvi
James D. Rodger
Topics:
Pavements
Year:
2012