Estimation of carrying capacity of slag and gravel forest road pavements

• Main Authors: Grzegorz Trzcinski, Sergiusz Kaczmarzyk
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Forestry 2006-01-01
• Series: Croatian Journal of Forest Engineering
• Online Access: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/6552

The objective of the study was to estimate the carrying capacity of forest roads with slag and gravel pavements. Deformation module and elastic deflection were used as characteristic parameters of road carrying capacity. There were 9 tested sections divided into set groups. All investigated sections were measured using VSS plate (29 measurements) and deflectometer (53 measurements). Averaged results of the measurements of specific pavements were introduced in the analysis. The present study proved that the carrying capacity of slag and gravel pavements defined according to mean module ME is insufficient. The largest (122.87 MPa) mean deformation module was detained for gravel pavement. Two slag pavements with significant constructional differences had very similar values of deformation modules 98.26 and 94.84 MPa. Taking maximum deformation modules ME into consideration, slag, gravel and gravel-broken-stone pavements comply with the requirements for low traffic intensity (ME=130–200 MPa). Only two-ply gravel pavements (about 25 cm thick) have the mean carrying capacity complying with the requirements of low traffic intensity.