By Linda Pierce, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc.
Over the last 16 months, I’ve had the pleasure of conducting (along with Katie Zimmerman, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc., and Luis Rodriguez, FHWA) FHWA workshops for Quality Management Procedures for Network Level Pavement Condition. To date, five workshops have been conducted in North Carolina (pilot), Maryland, Tennessee, Washington State, and Kansas, and have been attended by 30 state highway agencies, FHWA representatives, and two local agencies. The workshops have provide an opportunity for agencies to obtain and share information related to pavement condition data collection and quality management activities.
The following provides a summary of the more common pavement condition data collection practices. Note―some of the following information has been obtained from other sources.
Figure 1 represents the type of equipment/process (automated, semi-automated, or manual/windshield) used for collecting pavement surface distress (i.e., cracking). All agencies reported that the International Roughness Index (IRI), faulting, and rutting data is collected using automated equipment. The majority of agencies (twenty-six) conduct data collection using fully automated surveys, thirteen agencies use semi-automated surveys, and twelve agencies conduct windshield surveys. Many of the agencies that currently collect pavement condition using semi-automated methods are looking into or moving towards fully automated methods.
Figure 1. Agency Data Collection Equipment/Procedures.
Figure 2 illustrates who (in-house or contract) is conducting the condition survey. Approximately half of the agencies conduct in-house data collection, while the other half conduct data collection through vendor contracts.
Figure 2. Agency Data Collection Equipment/Procedures.
Finally, thirty-four agencies indicated that pavement condition data is collected annually on the National Highway System (NHS) and six agencies conduct NHS data collection every two years. Twenty-one agencies collect pavement condition data on the non-NHS every year and fifteen agencies collect non-NHS pavement condition data every two years.
For more information, please contact Linda Pierce at lpierce@appliedpavement.com