Study of Same-lane and Inter-lane GVW Correlation

Extensive work has been done over the last two decades on the simulation of traffic loading on bridges. The methodology used is to generate a number of years of simulated traffic and to use extreme value statistics to predict more accurately the characteristic loading for a given bridge. The parameters and probability distributions used in the Monte Carlo simulation must be based on observed sample traffic data. Some previous studies have made unsubstantiated assumptions regarding correlation between the Gross Vehicle Weights (GVW) of trucks in the same lane, or between trucks in adjacent, same direction lanes. For this paper, an extensive database of Dutch Weigh-in-Motion data is analysed. Data are collected from two same-direction lanes and are time-stamped to the nearest 0.01 seconds. The statistical characteristics of this set of data are presentd, and various techniques are used to establish the nature and extend of GVW correlation.