Loads and Road Design for Intermodal Container Terminals with Untypical Heavy Load Traffic

There is a high demand in Poland for new intermodal container terminals. Increased rate of freight transport requires however new solutions for durable roads. Intermodal operations are carried out by swap bodies, trailers or most often containers. The intermodal terminals play the function of a storage, transportation and handling of the containers. The road surfaces within the terminals are exposed to different types of loads due to untypical types of transportation that operates on them. New types of roads demand new design methods that consider loads applied by special types of vehicles (container cranes, types of forklifts called reach-stackers). They also need to consider the method of container stacking, where the local forces can reach up to 1400 kN. The article presents typical loads that can be found in intermodal terminals, including the storing area and maneuvering aisles. The article presents also typical materials used for road construction, as well as method of dimensioning that incorporates different exposure factors. The method allows to design load-bearing and durable road surfaces. The calculations were performed for materials typically used in road construction, as well as in industrial flooring. The study presents a case study calculation of a parking lot designed for heavy load trucks.