How do traffic volume and overload influence performance of Epoxy Asphalt?
A properly designed Epoxy Asphalt surfacing with excellent aggregates on a steel deck plate 16 mm or thicker should withstand about 15 to 25 million cycles of U. S. legal-limit wheel load without cracking. However, wheel overloads can significantly reduce fatigue life. One very heavily overloaded truck can cause a comparable loss in fatigue life to many legal trucks. For new projects or existing deck rehabilitation, fatigue tests should be made with the mix design and actual aggregates that will be used in the pavement. On the San Francisco Bay Bridge, each lane carries in excess of 1 million vehicles per year and the bridge has carried over 250 million vehicles since paving was completed in 1976.
