ARRB updates its Falling Weight Deflectometer

Key to the Australian Road Research Board’s (ARRB) infrastructure measurement equipment has been the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD).

The device is used to evaluate the structural strength of a pavement. The FWD runs over pavement simulating the load of a vehicle wheel and through deflection sensors, it detects how a pavement reacts to the load.

ARRB has been using its FWD since the 1980s and have recently rebuilt the machine to the latest standards.

It will enable the organisation to continue adding to the value of pavement strength tests at project level.

This FWD is also used extensively for pavement performance measurement at the ARRB full scale pavement test laboratory.

Here ARRB undertakes national research programs involving its Accelerated Loading Facility (ALF) to apply realistic heavy traffic loading to test the full life cycle of roads (20+ years) in just a few months.

Right now the team are working on an investigation into the performance of thin asphalt surfacing on typical granular pavements.