Paper ICMPA192 8th International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets CONTINUOUS FRICTION MEASUREMENT EQUIPMENT

Currently, in the United States, highway agencies commonly use locked-wheel testers to perform project and network level pavement evaluation. Fixed and variable slip friction measurement devices collect data continuously, so they are also known as a Continuous Friction Measurement Equipment (CFME). This is a big advantage over the locked-wheel devices because it offers a practical alternative for network-level pavement friction data collection at highway speeds, because it can carry out substantial friction surveys with low water consumption. They are also highly maneuverable and especially adapted for investigating accident sites, supporting wet-weather accident reduction programs and identifying localized areas with reduced friction. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has developed a CFME Loan Program to allow state agencies, practitioners and/or researchers the opportunity to evaluate several types of fixed slip CFME devices without the significant financial commitment this would otherwise represent. The program is managed by the Pavement Surface Characteristics Consortium, which is a joint effort between FHWA and six Departments of Transportation (DOTs) and run by the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure (CSTI) at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). This paper presents some of the experiences and results that the CFME Loan Program has achieved, especially the software program developed to allow users to view and analyze continuous pavement friction data automatically without further processing. Results from some measurements made at the Smart Road are presented