Abstract:
WIM data is in abundance in South Africa, mainly due to toll concessions operating in the
Northern parts of the country. Most Weigh-in-Motion sensors are considered to be well
calibrated to international norms, but still suffer some shortcomings. Raw WIM data still
contains inherent measurement errors, and some post calibration still needs to be
performed before the data is usable to determine bridge load effects. Over the years,
some studies have suggested cleaning techniques and post calibration techniques for
South African WIM data. This paper investigates errors, systematic and random, as well as
other uncertainties that are inherent to WIM systems, which influence bridge load effects to
show how local WIM data can be used to calculate bridge load effects.
