A METHOD OF ARRANGING VEHICLE-WEIGHT MEASURING DEVICES TO COLLECT TRAFFIC LOAD INFORMATION ON A ROAD NETWORK

Abstract

 The objective of this research is to acquire knowledge of a method of arranging vehicle-weight measuring devices on a road network to efficiently collect information on “the traffic load from heavy vehicles,” which is a major cause of damage to the structures on roads. Three methods of arrangement (arrangement methods in I “traffic volume,” II “traffic path,” and III “traffic path and vehicle weight”) are proposed, and information such as the weight of individual vehicles and the start and end points of trips that have been collected in a road traffic census OD survey is used to compare and analyze the efficiency of the arrangement methods with respect to a real road network in the southern region of Chiba Prefecture. The results show that the amount of information about the traffic load obtained by selecting the locations of the arrangement on the basis of detailed information related to individual vehicles including “paths” and “weight” is generally quadruple that obtained by the method of selecting the locations of the arrangement on the basis of simplified information on each point such as “traffic volume.”