A COMPARISON OF FOUR ROUGHNESS MEASURING SYSTEMS

THE FOLLOWING FOUR DIFFERENT MEASURING DEVICES FOR USE IN EVALUATING HIGHWAY SURFACE ROUGHNESS WERE INVESTIGATED: (1) THE CHLOE PROFILOMETER, (2) THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC ROADS PROFILOMETER WITH MECHANICAL INTEGRATER, (3) THE PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION ROADOMETER, AND (4) THE MAYS ROAD METER. THESE INSTRUMENTS WERE STUDIED TO: (1) EXAMINE THE FIELD-WORTHINESS OF THE SYSTEMS, (2) DETERMINE THE VALIDITY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE MEASUREMENTS, AND (3) DETERMINE THE AFFECTS ON THEIR RESULTS OF SUCH VARIABLES AS OPERATING SPEED, DRIVER CHARACTERISTICS, OPERATING TEMPERATURES, ETC. THE F-RATIO METHOD WAS USED TO COMPARE THE VARIABILITY OF EACH INSTRUMENT'S MEASUREMENTS BETWEEN SETS WITH THE VARIABILITY OF ITS MEASUREMENTS WITHIN SETS. THE RESPECTIVE F-RATIOS WERE DETERMINED FROM A LARGER NUMBER OF TESTS COMPRISING 45 SECTIONS. THE RANKING DERIVED FROM THE ORIGINAL 24 SECTION TESTS WERE UNCHANGED. THE CHLOE PROFILOMETER WAS DETERMINED BEST WITH RESPECT TO F-RATIO. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT NECESSARILY THE OPTIMUM CHOICE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS. ADDITIONAL FACTORS CONSIDERED INCLUDE INITIAL COST, OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE COSTS, CONVENIENCE AND SPEED OF OPERATION, PLUS OTHER LESS TANGIBLE FACTORS SUCH AS THE OUTPUT DATA FORMAT AND ITS COMPATIBILITY WITH THE USER'S MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DATA REDUCTION SCHEME. THE MAYS ROAD METER OFFERS ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES THAT MAY OFFSET ITS SLIGHTLY DIMINISHED PRECISION. IT IS SIMPLE IN OPERATION, HAS LOW MAINTENANCE COST, AND MEASURES WHILE TRAVELING AT 40 OR 50 MPH. THE CHLOE PROFILOMETER IS PRECISE, BUT COMPLEX, COSTLY, VERY SLOW AND DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN IN OPERATING CONDITION. THE BPR ROUGHOMETER REQUIRES A TRAILER, IS SOMEWHAT COSTLY, AND OPERATES AT INTERMEDIATE SPEED. THE PCA ROAD METER MATCHES THE MAYS ROAD METER CLOSELY IN SEVERAL BASIC RESPECTS AND WOULD PROVIDE AN ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVE IF ITS PRECISION WERE IMPROVED. A TABLE IS PRESENTED WHICH IS DESIGNED TO PROVIDE A MEANS FOR CHOOSING AMONG THESE FOUR INSTRUMENTS.

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  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Paper sponsored by Committee on Surface Properties--Vehicle Interaction. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
  • Authors:
    • Phillips, M B
    • Swift, Gilbert
  • Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 227-235
  • Monograph Title: Design, evaluation, and performance of pavement systems
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00207063
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Mar 9 1970 12:00AM