Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for conducting tests of the amount of damage caused by heavier and overloaded axles when on a typical, rather than an ideal, road.

The amount of damage caused by heavier and overloaded axles is assessed applying well established, and internationally recognised, engineering based methods of calculating road wear. Current design standards for new road construction take account of recent research which shows that existing well-built asphalt roads on the Strategic Road Network do not weaken through the effects of cumulative heavy goods vehicle traffic loading but maintain their strength with time.