A PAVEMENT CONDITION RATING SYSTEM AND ITS USE DESCRIPTION AND TRENDS

THE MATERIALS DIVISION OF THE WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS HAS DEVELOPED A METHOD FOR EVALUATING THE PRESENT CONDITION OF ANY PAVEMENT. THIS SYSTEM WAS FIRST USED IN THE RATING OF THE SOME 7000 MILES OF ROADWAY IN THE WASHINGTON STATE HIGHWAY NETWORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH A PRIORITY PROGRAMMING STUDY. THIS STUDY, AND ITS SOMEWHAT URGENT IMPLEMENTATION, CALLED FOR A METHOD OF RATING PAVEMENTS THAT WOULD QUICKLY PROVIDE ACCURATE, UNIFORM RESULTS THROUGH THE USE OF RAPIDLY TRAINED PERSONNEL CHOSEN FROM THE RANK AND FILE OF THE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT. BY THE METHOD PRESENTED, THE ENTIRE STATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM WAS SO RATED IN LESS THAN ONE MONTH'S TIME BY SEVEN TEAMS OF TWO MEN EACH. BRIEFLY, THE METHOD INVOLVES A COMBINED RATING OF THE QUALITY OF RIDE PROVIDED BY A PAVEMENT AND THE DEGREE OF STRUCTURAL DISTRESS OBSERVED IN THAT PAVEMENT AS CATEGORIZED ACCORDING TO ESTABLISHED GUIDELINES BY QUALIFIED RATERS. APPLICATION OF THIS RATING SYSTEM TO OUR PRIORITY PROGRAMMING STUDY CALLED FOR A CRITICAL RATING LEVEL TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR EACH CLASS OF HIGHWAY AND ALSO A FORMULA FOR PREDICTING WHEN ANY GIVEN ROADWAY WILL REACH THIS CRITICAL LEVEL. THE CRITICAL RATING LEVEL FOR EACH CLASS OF HIGHWAY CAN BE DEFINED AS THAT NUMERICAL RATING AT WHICH SOME FORM OF ROADWAY REHABILITATION IS WARRANTED. THROUGH AN ANALYSIS OF PAVEMENT AGES VERSUS PRESENT CONDITION RATINGS ON A CROSS SECTION OF ROADWAYS, ANNUAL POINT LOSS RATES FOR THE VARIOUS TYPES OF PAVEMENTS WERE DETERMINED. CRITICAL RATING LEVELS WERE ESTABLISHED FROM THE RESULTS OF THE PAVEMENT CONDITION SURVEY AS INFLUENCED BY THE POINT LOSS RATES, OUR PAVEMENT DESIGN METHOD AND INTROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS. THIS SYSTEM, WITH OR WITHOUT THE CRITICAL RATING LEVELS, CAN BE ADOPTED BY ANY AGENCY (CITY, COUNTY, ETC.) WHERE A COMPARATIVE CONDITION RANKING OF ROADWAYS IS DESIRED. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 38, pp 280-295, 2 FIG, 3 REF, 1 APP
• Authors:
  • LeClerc, R V
  • Marshall, T R
  • Beecroft, G W
• Conference:
  • Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists Proc
• Publication Date: 1969-2

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Condition surveys; Defects; Evaluation; Pavement design; Pavement distress; Pavement performance; Pavements; Ratings; Riding qualities
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207096
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 27 1970 12:00AM