| dc.description.abstract | The study investigated traffic loading correlation with magnitude and rate of fatigue crack
growth on a section of the Northern Corridor Route in Uganda. The objectives of the study
were (i) characterizing fatigue crack behaviour and traffic loading on the study road, (ii)
establishing the trends in the rate of change of fatigue crack geometry propagation and (iii)
developing a maintenance regime based on fatigue crack propagation. Seven study sections
were carefully selected and marked out between Magamaga and Kakira on the selected
highway. Three rounds of measurement of crack geometry (width, length and cracked block
area) were taken using a digital vernier caliper and tape measure. Traffic surveys for a duration
of one and a half years (18 months) from September 2017 to February 2019 were conducted.
The results showed that the Kakira (West) bound lane was more heavily loaded than the
Magamaga (East) bound lane. Statistical analysis revealed that the selected road section, data
collection period and traffic direction were significant at a 0.05 level. There was a reducing
trend in the percentage rate of change of crack geometry propagation i.e., crack width
(57.27%), crack length (48.85%) and cracked block area (15.70%) during the study period. A
maintenance regime based on the percentage rate of change of crack geometry per annum was
developed whereby the duration to maintenance can be determined based on crack geometric
parameters. The developed pavement maintenance regime can be used by the various agencies
such as Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT), Uganda National |Roads Authority
(UNRA), Urban authorities such as Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), District Local
Governments (DLGs), etc., to scientifically determine the duration to maintenance of their
pavements. The agencies are recommended to invest in similar studies on their road networks
to be able to get their specific road network input parameters. Additional research needs to be
carried out on other pavements of varied thickness and traffic loading. The effect of
climatic/environmental factors (temperature and rainfall) and geographical locations can also be
studied. | en_US |
