Direction générale de l'aviation civile (DGAC)

Service technique de l'aviation civile

An airport pavement’s bearing capacity corresponds to its structural capacity to take repeated loads, i.e. accumulated traffic. This parameter is represented in the form of admissible RSI or PCN load.

The historical STAC method (1973-2011) was based on the use of a measuring device unique in the world, the STBA bearing capacity trailer; the test principle consisted of studying the fatigue resistance of the pavement/underlying soil body.

Between 2005 and 2010 the STAC developed a dynamic rational method, based on the use of models with axisymmetrical 2D-finished elements and an associated inverse calculation algorithm for the exploitation of the HWD test results.

The Heavy Weight Deflectometer

[The Heavy Weight Deflectometer – © DGAC/STAC]

Updated on November 25 2022