PREFACE In past assessments of the fair and reasonable cost responsibilities of any form of heavy vehicle, the greatest unknown has been the magnitude of damage to roads and bridges caused by these vehicles. Some researchers have concluded that heavy vehicles impose considerable damage, while others contend that weather and other non-vehicle factors are even more important. Dynamic simulation techniques have shown great potential to resolve the issue of cost occasioned by heavy vehicles on

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... . If the attributes of both vehicle and pavement are accurately represented, dynamic simulation can shed light on how the two interact and can estimate much more effectively the costs of heavy vehicle use for a given pavement design. Similarly, simulation can estimate the change in vehicle use costs that would result if a pavement were upgraded. This is precisely the tool set required for highway investment benefit-cost analyses and cost allocation studies that consider vehicle use and pavement upgrade alternatives. PaveSim, a dynamic simulation environment, has been created to help develop performance-based operations policy. Integrated into PaveSim is another simulation program called TruckSim, which was developed at the University of Michigan to model heavy vehicles. Using the dynamic wheel loads from TruckSim, PaveSim simulates the performance of jointed concrete pavements. RigidPav, a finite element program, performs the detailed calculation of deflections and stresses in the pavement. Within the PaveSim environment it is possible to quickly vary vehicle parameters such as number of axles and axle spacing, suspension type and characteristics, and payload and distribution. We can also estimate the effects on pavement life of pavement characteristics such as thickness, subgrade support, and joint types. This report presents an overview of the PaveSim environment and its user interface. Most of the report is written as a PaveSim tutorial to be used by pavement designers and policymakers in state and federal departments of transportation. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the U.S.