# 2651 / Rapid Assessment Tools For Estimating Trafficability On Low-Volume Roads ## Authors John Rushing, Lulu Edwards, Haley Bell, and Margarita Ordaz {% hint style="info" %} Paper presented at ISTVS 2024 | 21st International and 12th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the ISTVS\ Keywords: Rapid assessment; soil strength; mobility\ {% endhint %} ## Abstract Rapid assessment of low volume road surfaces remains a challenge when attempting to forecast allowable vehicle crossings. Variations in moisture content of the soil can greatly affect trafficability, and predictive equations for soil deformation under vehicle loads often have reduced reliability for low-strength materials. Portable tools to characterize soil stiffness and corresponding relationships to load-induced deformation are needed. In this effort, researchers performed comparative testing of multiple rapid assessment tools as potential devices for giving estimations of vehicle trafficability. The test devices included a Clegg hammer and lightweight deflectometer as instruments that measure response from impulse loading. A dynamic cone penetrometer was used as a basis for comparison. Silty sand with and without chemical stabilizers at varying moisture content were used for testing. These soil conditions represented very weak conditions capable of supporting fewer than 50 vehicle passes to moderate strength conditions capable of supporting several thousand vehicle passes. Data from full-scale tests were used to correlate allowable traffic with data obtained from the rapid assessment tools. Recommendations from the effort include ranges of response data to categorize low-volume road surfaces based on their ability to handle ranges of vehicle loadings. *** Full paper purchase: \ ISTVS members receive three complimentary papers per year: --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://2024.istvs.org/submissions/papers/2651.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.