Conception of compensation for damage caused by traffic of heavy weight vehicles on roads with flexible pavement

Compensation for damage caused by traffic of heavy weight vehicles (HWV) is necessary to ensure timely repair and maintenance of roads exposed to the damaging effects of such vehicles. The article deals with the main principles related to the evaluation of the extent of pavement as well as its construction failures occurring due to the HWV traffic on roads, compensation for material damage caused by that failure, weight restrictions on the HWV using roads during unfavourable seasons of the year and taxation of those HWV. It is highly important to determine the equivalence of HWV effects on pavement to strength of road pavement construction and other parameters as well as to evaluate expenditures and road maintenance related expenses as well as inevitable expenses that occur during the exploitation of road vehicles. The article suggests a new conception of compensation for damage caused by the HWV traffic on the roads of Lithuania that unites factors important to road condition (parameters of vehicles, parameters of road pavement construction, parameters of bridge construction, economic and other common factors) and takes into account compensation for damage caused by the HWV traffic as a criteria for collecting taxes.