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Part of Transportation policies and technical guidelines

Equivalent Single Axle Loadings for pavement design

Reports prepared for consultants undertaking pavement designs for government.

Overview

We prepare the Highway Equivalent Single Axle Loading (ESAL) Reports for consultants undertaking pavement designs for Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors.

The ESAL calculations in the reports are based on periodic turning movement counts and annual average daily traffic determinations.

Normally the turning movement studies performed to determine truck percentages are done in the summer months. There are unique circumstances when these counts are done in winter months on known resource roads, which may distort the average annual ESAL on the road. Users are cautioned on using these ESAL values for pavement design.

ESAL values in the history reports may fluctuate from year to year. The purpose of the ESAL history reports is to allow the consultants undertaking the pavement designs to evaluate the reasonableness of the present ESAL value.

Significant increases or decreases in ESAL values need to be considered in conjunction with specific knowledge of the roadway and overall engineering assessment.

Users are required to use sound engineering judgment to determine the present ESALs to be used in the design process as documented in the department's ‘Pavement Design Manual’.

The reports present statistical information on traffic volumes, vehicle classification, travel and ESALs on Alberta's Highway Network. These statistics are given as weighted averages over entire highways, control sections and traffic control sections. These statistics are estimated from data collected for Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors by its contractors.

For traffic statistics at specific locations of concern (such as winter resource roads), contact Tariq Bashir with Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors by email or by phone at 780-638-9410.

For ESAL statistics within cities, contact the Transportation Department within the appropriate city.

ESAL reports and statistics

The following reports and statistics are available in the Open Government Portal.

Excel format

PDF format

These records include abbreviations, definitions, weighting procedure for traffic statistics and municipal codes: