ROAD PROFILE EVALUATION FOR COMPATIBLE PAVEMENT EVALUATION (ABRIDGMENT)

An important application of the Surface Dynamics profilometer is to provide a stable calibration reference for response-type road roughness measuring (RTRRM) instruments. The latter devices, of which the Mays meter is typical, are relatively inexpensive and are used by many agencies for routine pavement monitoring. A special class of profile statistics, termed root-mean-square vertical acceleration (RMSVA), has been shown to reveal many of the road surface properties normally associated with roughness, including those measured by Mays meters. An RMSVA-based roughness index, which was tailored to describe the behavior of eight Mays meters run on 29 pavement test sections, is now the basis of a large-scale calibration program by the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation. Although the Mays meter calibration problem motivated the development of RMSVA roughness indices, careful monitoring of a set of calibration test sections and other pavements has revealed interesting surface properties that could never be detected by Mays meters or by other RTRRM devices that reduce roughness evaluations to a single number. The RMSVA indices computed from a road profile can provide a signature that reflects roughness over a broad range of profile wavelengths. Distinctive signatures that correspond to certain pavement classes, or types of deterioration, have been tentatively identified and are presented here. Their interpretation remains a promising subject for future research. (Author)

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1982/893/893-004.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=ROAD+PROFILE+EVALUATION+FOR+COMPATIBLE+PAVEMENT+EVALUATION+(ABRIDGMENT)&author=D.+McKenzie&author=W.+Hudson&publication_year=1982
• Availability:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Pavement Condition Evaluation. 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.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

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• Authors:
  • McKenzie, David W
  • Hudson, W Ronald
• Conference:
  • 61st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1982-1-18 to 1982-1-22
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 17-19
• Monograph Title: DISTRESS MEASUREMENT AND INTERACTION OF VEHICLES WITH PAVEMENT SURFACES
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 893
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Calibration; Evaluation; Pavements; Profilometers; Ratios; Roughness; Statistics
• Uncontrolled Terms: Pavement conditions
• Old TRIS Terms: Indexes (Ratios)
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00373013
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309035058
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-035 160
• Files: HSL, TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 31 1983 12:00AM