Allowable Axle Loads on Pavements (Technical Summary)

One measure of the durability of a road is the degree to which its pavement sections bend under a given load. These deflections can be an indication of both the strength and stiffness of the layers composing the pavement. A falling weight deflectometer, or FWD, is often used to measure these deflections by dropping a large weight onto a pavement and recording its consequent deformation.