Pavement testing: Heavy Vehicle Simulator Operation and Maintenance

The program included the acquisition of an accelerated pavement testing system, which allows testing different materials and pavement layers in a few months at a real scale to speed up the innovation and improvement of pavement engineering in KSA. 

Applus+ was selected for its proven expertise in QA/QC, laboratory testing, and pavement engineering, which has been demonstrated through similar projects globally and in Saudi Arabia. The company's pavement engineers effectively implemented and operated the HVS system over three years.

One of the project's objectives was to improve the practices for using asphalt materials and constructing pavement layers. Road pavements use local aggregates as a base with the addition of high-quality bitumen and are subject to continuous improvement. Strict quality control practices are necessary to ensure high and consistent performance across various locations and climatic conditions. The challenge was to introduce advanced materials and practices into national road pavements and overcome resistance to change, ensuring that employees and contractors understood the benefits of empirical design and new materials.

Pavements are designed for 10-20 years, and their duration is measured in millions of ESALs (Equivalent Single Axle Loads). The HVS facility can apply this number of loads in a few months, allowing trial and error of different combinations. 

Our participation in the project was phased in as follows:

• Constructing a Suitable Warehouse: Building a warehouse with controlled temperature and humidity to house and operate the HVS system under optimal conditions.
• Providing a Specialized Team: Deploying a team of engineers and technicians with expertise in pavement testing.
• Implementing the HVS System: Putting MoTLS' HVS system from Dynatest, a leader in the pavement testing market, into operation.
• Operating the HVS System: Managing the operation of the HVS system throughout the project.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has experienced intense growth in both its economy and population, and the demand for transportation of goods and people requires improved transportation infrastructure. The introduction of better-performance materials and new asphalt concrete mixtures provides pavement layers with the increased durability, reliability, and sustainability needed to meet the expected increased demand for existing and new roads. The accelerated test facility will reduce the time required to introduce these new materials and pavement designs on the Kingdom's roads.

The HVS facility will allow:

• Analyzing the structural design methods and assessing the thicknesses of the flexible pavement layers used by the client, including evaluating structural design factors and developing a matrix of material variables and load factors. This process involves using the heavy traffic load simulator for the design, definition, and evaluation of experimental sections.
• To study the factors that affect the structural design of the roads.
• To construct experimental sections for evaluating the material matrix described above, considering various pavement layer thicknesses on different roads.

With over 30 years of experience in road management, road design, and developing and operating pavement testing systems for various road authorities—including national and regional governments, road concession companies, and road construction and maintenance firms—we are proud to have contributed to a project that will modernize and advance the KSA road network.