Traffic Loader - Lanes#

Definitions#

Lane - contains a left and right edge and a line yc, which does not have to be located centrally between the edges. The vehicle moves along the line yc. Loads always act only within the loaded lane, loads outside the lane are “clipped”, i.e. simply ignored.

Notional lane - is used to visualize where the load train is placed within the lane and depends on the selected Section. The notional lane is indicated in light blue in the visualization window of the Traffic Loader task.

Residual area - is the remaining area of the lane, that is not covered by the load train. If a lane has a width of 4.00 m and a load train with a width of 3.00m (e.g. LM1) is placed on this lane, a residual area of 0.50 m width results to the right and left of the load train when yc is positioned centrally.

Lane creation for the Eurocode (EN) Section#

The creation of lanes for the Eurocode Section is based on the provisions of EN 1992-2, table 4.1. In general lanes are created in several alignments (centered, left, right) depending on the width of the carriageway (distance between curbstones). The lanes are laid out according to the following rules:

Note

For special cases lanes can also be created manually by choosing Section: user defined.

Width of carriageway w < 5.4m#

One lane is created for each of the alignments centered (lane 1), right (lane 10) and left (lane 20).

Width of carriageway 5.4m < w < 6.0m#

Only one centered lane alignment is generated with the lanes 1 (at the right) and 2 (at the left). Each lane has a width of w/2.

Width of carriageway 6.0 < w < 20.0m#

In general the alignments centered, right and left are created.

For the alignment centered the lane 1 is in the middle, then alternately follow right, left, right, left the lanes 2, 3, 4 and 5 (up to a maximum of 5 lanes). The middle lanes have a width of 3.00m each, only the edge lanes reach with an edge to the curbstone and are therefore wider.

For the right alignment, lane 10 is right-aligned on the curbstone, lanes 11 to a maximum of 15 follow on the left.

For the left alignment, lane 20 is left-aligned on the curbstone, followed by tracks 21 to a maximum of 25 on the right.

For the special case, that the carriageway can in good approximantion be filled with an integer number of lanes (w $\approx$ 3m, 6m, 9m, 12m, 15m or 18m, with a tolerance margin of +0.30m) only one centered lane alignment is generated. In this case the lanes are numbered from right to left (starting from 1).

Width of carriageway w > 20.0 m#

From more than approx. 20.00 m between the curbstones only one centered lane alignment is generated. The created lanes are numbered from right to left (starting from 1). All inner lanes have a width of 3.00 m, the two edge lanes can be broader depending on the remaining area that can not be covered by a whole lane.

Lane 0 - Superstructure width#

In addition a lane 0 is defined in all cases. This is the overall width, i.e. the width between the curbstones plus the width of the cycle tracks and footpaths and is referred to as the superstructure width. In order to load the cycle tracks/footpaths, the residual areas of lane 0 are addressed.

Notional lanes#

As noted above the notional lane indicates where a load train will be applied within the lane. For the Eurocode setting (Section: EN) the notional lanes have a width of 3.00 m (which corresponds to the width of the LM1 load model) and are centered on the position of yc within the lane

Note

The notional lane is a help concept for visualization purposes. Decisive for the calculation are the lane definition (width and position of the lane and the position yc of the line along which the load train is moving) and the load train (resp. its width).