Road managers
Accessibility tools
This consultation closed on Friday 5 April 2024. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback.
The NHVR welcomes any additional feedback while we seek to finalise the tool. Please ensure you are using the current version dated 24 April 2024. We recommend that users download the latest version below and version check any files you may have previously saved.
Pavement Calculator - Beta (24 April 2024) (XLSX, 1.8MB)
The Pavement Calculator assists users to estimate vertical pavement wear effects and costs from use of heavy freight vehicles. It considers various factors like different pavement types, vehicle configurations, axle configurations, axle masses, tyre sizes, and road-friendly suspension, offering a wide-ranging analysis.
The Pavement Calculator has been updated following consultation feedback. Key changes include:
- Updated standard axle load values based on AGPT02-17 Guide to Pavement Technology Part 2: Pavement Structural Design, Tables 7.7 and 7.8. Note that Pig Axles continue to reference the National Steer Axle Mass Limits (AP-R505-16), Tables 4.1 and 4.2 as AGPT02-17 does not contain updated values for these axle groups.
- Addition of a Wear Productivity Index (WPI) ratio, which provides another method to standardise evaluating different vehicles for a 100t payload freight task. The WPI gives the ratio of pavement damage that Vehicle B will cause compared to Vehicle A. For example, if Vehicle B is more damaging than Vehicle A, the proportion will be above 1.0. Conversely, if Vehicle B is less damaging than Vehicle A, the proportion will be below 1.0.
- Adjustment to how twin steer axles are modelled to ensure consistency with AP-R505-16 National Steer Axle Mass Limits.
- Manual entry is now the default for the estimate marginal cost of pavement wear. Note: Data is only available for Qld, as the Department of Transport and Main Roads (Qld) are the only transport agency to have publicly available information on their estimate marginal cost of pavement wear.
- Please note: The present year remains as 2023. This will be updated as more CPI data is made available.
Support documents
Why we consulted
Governments face big challenges ensuring their roads are kept in good order and supporting the development of their communities. It is only natural that they want to minimise the impact that heavy vehicles have on their roads, however, the impact different heavy vehicles have on roads are not always known. The NHVR wants to make it easier for governments to work out these impacts with the new Pavement Calculator.
This innovative resource is especially useful for road managers without pavement engineering expertise, allowing them to assess the impacts of freight vehicles on their infrastructure accurately and understand the long-term pavement effects of freight activity on roads.
The tool’s development involved the use of trusted sources already used by road managers in road design and assessments, such as Austroads pavement research and transport agency pavement guidelines.
The Pavement Calculator is the second in a suite of tools that is being released for consultation by the NHVR over the coming months, with Freight PASS released for consultation in October 2023.
Publication of submissions
Unless clearly marked IN CONFIDENCE, submissions received may be made public at our discretion.
We will consider all submissions, whether published or not. We reserve the right to edit or redact part or all of a submission, or withhold a submission from publication on any grounds, including, but not limited to, offensive language, potentially defamatory material or copyright infringing material.
Our privacy policy outlines how and what information we collect, including how to access and correct your personal information.