French sizing method approach

Once a type of structure has been selected and pre-dimensioned, either by reference to the structural catalog or based on the designer's experience, the dimensioning process involves a number of stages which will be reviewed in the following paragraphs, the logic of which is well summarized in standard NFP 98-082 of January 1994 (see [Doc. C 4 316] ):

"The repeated action of a rolling load on the roadway causes four types of damage:

• surface wear of the wearing course due to tangential forces;

• rutting due to creep of the bonded layers under the effect of vertical stresses and tangential forces;

• fatigue of the treated layers, caused by their bending under the action...