Decarbonisation of heavy vehicles to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, through the adoption of Zero-Emission Heavy Vehicle (ZEHV) technologies, inevitably influences vehicle typology and axle mass distribution. The additional weight of batteries used in ZEHV systems must be accommodated within existing vehicle mass limits. In Australia, the freight industry is advocating for a minimum one tonne increase in the allowable steer axle load to facilitate greater uptake of electric heavy vehicles. This desktop review investigates the potential effects of a one tonne increase in steer axle load on flexible pavements of both local roads and rural national highways. Currently, there is no nationally standardised methodology for assessing unacceptable pavement wear. This study compares several approaches and concludes that the use of mechanistic-empirical method with weigh-in-motion (WIM) data provides a more accurate assessment of pavement wear than analyses based solely on individual vehicle axles or total vehicle axle loads. The pavement wear analysis indicates that the steer axle contributes the greatest cumulative distress across all pavement types examined. Furthermore, the results show that a one-tonne increase in steer axle load would have a substantially greater impact on local roads- leading to an estimated 31.3% to 48.7% reduction in pavement life- compared with a 20.9% reduction in rural national highways.
| Published in | American Journal of Civil Engineering (Volume 13, Issue 6) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15 |
| Page(s) | 373-390 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Zero Emission Heavy Vehicle, Decarbonisation, Mass Limit, Axle Load, Steer Axle, Pavement Wear
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APA Style
Chua, B. T., Nepal, K. P. (2025). The Effect of Electric Heavy Vehicles on Flexible Pavements in Australia: A Review. American Journal of Civil Engineering, 13(6), 373-390. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15
ACS Style
Chua, B. T.; Nepal, K. P. The Effect of Electric Heavy Vehicles on Flexible Pavements in Australia: A Review. Am. J. Civ. Eng. 2025, 13(6), 373-390. doi: 10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15,
author = {Boon Tiong Chua and Kali Prasad Nepal},
title = {The Effect of Electric Heavy Vehicles on Flexible Pavements in Australia: A Review},
journal = {American Journal of Civil Engineering},
volume = {13},
number = {6},
pages = {373-390},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajce.20251306.15},
abstract = {Decarbonisation of heavy vehicles to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, through the adoption of Zero-Emission Heavy Vehicle (ZEHV) technologies, inevitably influences vehicle typology and axle mass distribution. The additional weight of batteries used in ZEHV systems must be accommodated within existing vehicle mass limits. In Australia, the freight industry is advocating for a minimum one tonne increase in the allowable steer axle load to facilitate greater uptake of electric heavy vehicles. This desktop review investigates the potential effects of a one tonne increase in steer axle load on flexible pavements of both local roads and rural national highways. Currently, there is no nationally standardised methodology for assessing unacceptable pavement wear. This study compares several approaches and concludes that the use of mechanistic-empirical method with weigh-in-motion (WIM) data provides a more accurate assessment of pavement wear than analyses based solely on individual vehicle axles or total vehicle axle loads. The pavement wear analysis indicates that the steer axle contributes the greatest cumulative distress across all pavement types examined. Furthermore, the results show that a one-tonne increase in steer axle load would have a substantially greater impact on local roads- leading to an estimated 31.3% to 48.7% reduction in pavement life- compared with a 20.9% reduction in rural national highways.},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Effect of Electric Heavy Vehicles on Flexible Pavements in Australia: A Review AU - Boon Tiong Chua AU - Kali Prasad Nepal Y1 - 2025/12/29 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15 T2 - American Journal of Civil Engineering JF - American Journal of Civil Engineering JO - American Journal of Civil Engineering SP - 373 EP - 390 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8737 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajce.20251306.15 AB - Decarbonisation of heavy vehicles to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, through the adoption of Zero-Emission Heavy Vehicle (ZEHV) technologies, inevitably influences vehicle typology and axle mass distribution. The additional weight of batteries used in ZEHV systems must be accommodated within existing vehicle mass limits. In Australia, the freight industry is advocating for a minimum one tonne increase in the allowable steer axle load to facilitate greater uptake of electric heavy vehicles. This desktop review investigates the potential effects of a one tonne increase in steer axle load on flexible pavements of both local roads and rural national highways. Currently, there is no nationally standardised methodology for assessing unacceptable pavement wear. This study compares several approaches and concludes that the use of mechanistic-empirical method with weigh-in-motion (WIM) data provides a more accurate assessment of pavement wear than analyses based solely on individual vehicle axles or total vehicle axle loads. The pavement wear analysis indicates that the steer axle contributes the greatest cumulative distress across all pavement types examined. Furthermore, the results show that a one-tonne increase in steer axle load would have a substantially greater impact on local roads- leading to an estimated 31.3% to 48.7% reduction in pavement life- compared with a 20.9% reduction in rural national highways. VL - 13 IS - 6 ER -
Infrastructure Solutions Australia, KBR, Adelaide, Australia
Civil Engineering Department, Central Queensland University, Melbourne, Australia
