WES
Brief Description:
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center—Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (ERDC– GSL) hosts the APT research program at the Waterways Experimental Station (WES). An accelerated trafficking device to simulate vehicle and aircraft trafficking on pavement sections was installed at WES in December 1998. The mobile and automated device is a HVS–aircraft Mark 5, and has been nicknamed Bigfoot. Simulated trafficking ranging from single and dual vehicle tires to single to twin aircraft tires can be applied. The load range is 45 to 445 kN. The trafficking device is self-propelled (mobile), allowing movement between adjacent test sections, and portable, allowing transport to field sites. An environmental chamber can be fitted to control pavement temperature from -5°C to 45°C. Trafficking can be uni- or bidirectional, with up to 15,000 passes per day in the bidirectional mode. Test sections are 3 m × 12 m. Trafficking can be channelized or normally distributed.
