Energy consumption in mine haulage due to road pavement performance

Abstract

Mine haul road pavements are often designed with informal methods. This approach means the energy consumption in haulage is not quantified and so pavement operating costs are not able to be defined. The energy consumption of haul trucks operating on unbound and cementitiously modified haul road pavement basecourse and wearing courses were estimated with variable traffic, climate and maintenance inputs. Energy consumption estimates showed that significant benefits may arise through the use of superior gravels that contain a suitable fines content with low to medium plasticity in the pavement wearing course. Similarly, it was shown that the pavement structural class significantly impacts haul truck energy consumption. Structural class is determined by pavement design and may be improved by increasing the pavement depth or utilizing stiffer materials. Estimating the energy consumption of haul trucks as part of the pavement design process would allow optimization of capital and operating costs over the life of a haul road.