Best Practices for Achieving and Measuring Pavement Smoothness, A Synthesis of State-of-Practice

Pavement smoothness specifications have evolved significantly over the past decade. More and more states are moving away from profilograph-based smoothness specifications to International Roughness Index (IRI)-based specifications. Unfortunately, a limited history with the usage of IRI-based specifications has led to some confusion over how best to structure a specification in terms of test methods and profiling equipment, thresholds for full pay/incentive/disincentive, and requirements for localized roughness or “must correct” areas. This limited history has also led to contractors who were used to profilograph-based specifications struggling to achieve the same level of quality under IRI-based specifications. This synthesis summarizes the current state-of-the-practice for IRI-based pavement smoothness specifications in the U.S. It highlights recent and current research related to pavement smoothness and provides general best practices for construction to help achieve requirements for IRI-based specifications.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2015/FR_550.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2015/ts_550.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  Transtec Group, Incorporated

  6111 Balcones Drive
  Austin, TX  United States  78731

  Southeast Transportation Consortium

  c/o Louisiana Transportation Research Center
  4101 Gourrier Avenue
  Baton Rouge, Louisiana  United States  70808

  Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

  1201 Capitol Access Road, P.O. Box 94245
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70804-9245

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Merritt, David K
  • Chang, George K
  • Rutledge, Jennifer L
• Publication Date: 2015-3

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 58p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Best practices; Pavement design; Paving; Smoothness; Specifications; State of the practice
• Identifier Terms: International Roughness Index
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Highways; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces; I52: Construction of Pavements and Surfacings;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01560678
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/LA.14/550, LTRC Number: 14-1PF, State Project Number: 30001420
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Apr 21 2015 9:01PM