Europe

The Danish Road Testing Machine (DRTM) is a linear track facility capable of testing full-scale pavements under wheel loads up to 65 kN (14,300 lb) at speeds up to 30 km/h (18.6 mph). The pavement is constructed in a pit and the temperature in the pavement can be controlled between -10ºC and +30ºC (14ºF to 86ºF).

DRTM is managed by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Danish Road Institute (DRI)

The largest circular test track in operation is at the French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks (IFSTTAR) near Nantes. This facility has a four-arm rotating loading system, running two wheel assemblies on an inner track, 30 m (100 ft) in diameter, and an outer track, 40 m (131 ft) in diameter. Loads of 40 to 75 kN (8,800 to 16,520 lb) on a dual-wheel, can be applied at speeds of up to 105 km/h (65 mph). It is possible to simulate tandem axles of 280 kn (61,500 lb) at lower speeds and to simulate single wheel-loading. The first test was conducted in 1978. This highly successful APT program, with extensive research studies and strong interaction though partnering with industry is one of the most active in the world today.

The Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) has two types of Accelerated Pavement Testing facilities available. In the period from 1963 to approx. 2012 the so-called Impulse Actuators were used for investigations on a full-scale indoor model road. Since 2013 the Mobile Load Simulator MLS30 has been primarily used for APT programs. The MLS30 is characterized by its high load frequency of maximum 0.6 Hz. Four loading wheels (Super-Singel or dual tires) with a constant load of 45-75 kN are guided over a loading distance of 3.0 m. The loading speed can be set between 2.0 m/s and up to 6.0 m/s.

The Road and Railroads Research Laboratory of Delft University of Technology (TUDelft) has a linear facility, LINTRACK. The facility was commissioned in 1991. The loading wheel assembly permits single-, dual- or super-single wheel mounting at loads from 15 to 100 kN (3,300 to 22,000 lb) and travels over the test section at 20 km/h (12.5 mph). The segment of the test section where the wheel travels at constant speed is 3.5 m (11.5 ft) long. Loading is distributed transversely 1 m (3.2 ft) each side of the centerline. The whole loading assembly is mounted on rails across a 55 m (180 ft) long test area in which transverse test sections can be constructed by conventional equipment. The loading machine is placed inside a temperature control room.

Finland and Sweden have a joint APT program operating a HVS Mark IV. The device is jointly owned by the Technical Research Center of Finland, the Finnish National Road Administration, and the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI). The Swedish National Road Administration provides support to VTI to cover its share of the capital cost.

The HVS–Nordic (a linear full-scale accelerated pavement testing machine) was initially located in Finland in 1997 and 1998, and then in Sweden from 1998 through 2000. In Finland the machine is located at the Technical Research Center and in Sweden at VTI. The loading wheels of the HVS–Nordic can be dual or single with standard or wide-based tires. The lateral movement is ±750 mm and the wheel load can be varied between 20 kN and 110 kN with speeds up to 15 km/h. The HVS–Nordic is unique in that it is mobile with full temperature control and the loading can be varied dynamically ±20% sinusoidally.

The Technical University of Iassy, Romania, commissioned a circular test track with a diameter of 10 m (32 ft) in 1957. After more than 40 pavements were tested, the loading machine was replaced in 1982 by a 15-m (51-ft) diameter circular facility. The facility was reconstructed again in 1999.

The circular facility operated at Vuis-Cesty in Bratislava was commissioned in 1994. The outdoors circular track has a diameter of 32 m (105 ft). The machine has three arms, each having a full truck axle (4 wheels). The operating speed is between 10 and 50 km/h (7 and 31 mph).

Spain has a major facility at the Road research Center (Centro de Estudios de Carreteras CEC) near Madrid. The center is part of the Center for Public Works Studies and Experimentations (Centro de Estudios y Experimentacion de Obras Publicas (CEDEX)), managed by the Ministry of Public Works Transport and Environment. The facility has two parallel straights each of three 25-m (82-ft) sections joined by circular arcs. The test sections are built with normal construction equipment in an U-shaped concrete box, 8 m (26.2 ft) wide by 2.6 m (8.5 ft) deep, which allows the control of mositure content in the subgrade soil. Loading is applied by two bogies, each guided by an internal perimeter wall, which are capable of mounting one-, two-, or three-wheel, single- or dul-tire half axles. The load is by gravity at speeds up to 60 km/h (37 mph) and axle loads between 110 and 150 kN (24,200 to 33,000 lb). Pavemet instrumentation is monitored from a control center that also operates the two vehicles.

The MLS10 at Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) is a prototype APT developed in 2006 in South Africa and since 2008 active in Switzerland. This machine is a full-scaled APT device capable of applying 6’000 load cycles per hour over a length of 4.2 m, using truck super-single or twin tires. The MLS10 can apply a maximum load of 65 kN, which correspond to a 130 kN axle. The speed of the loading wheels can reach the 6 m/s.

There are two facilities in the U.K. are administered by the

• UK Transport Research Laboratory

• University of Ulster