Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-12-01 Origin: Site
In 2018 the state and local governments of the United States spent more than 187 billion dollars on highways and bridges making it the 5th largest expense. 44 percent of this funding was dedicated to maintenance, while the other 56% was dedicated to the actual construction of the roads and highways [1]
Most damage to roads and bridges is done by heavy vehicles. The reason is that as the weight of the axle goes up, the damage done to the road surface does not go up linearly, but goes up by a factor of four. That is, going from a 1 ton axle to a 5 ton axle will do 625 times more damage to the road surface. That is why the gross and axle weight limits exist and are strictly enforced.
