0-6610: Impact of changes in profile measurement technology on QA testing of pavement smoothness : project summary.

PDFTech Report0-6610Quality assurancePavement performanceSmoothnessRoughnessUnited StatesTexas A&M Transportation InstituteFernando, Emmanuel G.Walker, Roger S.University of Texas at ArlingtonTexas A&M Transportation InstituteTexas. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Technology Implementation OfficeUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationPete, KevinUS Transportation CollectionFor quality assurance testing, the Texas Department of Transportation\ue2\u20ac\u2122s (TxDOT\ue2\u20ac\u2122s) Item 585 ride specification includes pay adjustment schedules that are tied to the average international roughness index (IRI), and a procedure to locate defects based on measured profiles. The acceptance criteria in Item 585 are based on measurements collected with traditional single-point lasers. Since its implementation, profilers with multi-point and wide-footprint lasers have become available. The impact of these new lasers on ride quality assurance tests needs to be investigated.To identify defects, Item 585 implements a methodology that checks the deviations between the average profile and its 25-ft moving average against a specified threshold. However, some districts have taken the additional step of using a bump rating panel to select the bumps and dips to be corrected based on the panel\ue2\u20ac\u2122s opinion of defect severity. A standard methodology needs to be developed to maintain consistency in ride quality assurance testing. This project:1. Established the impact of multi-point and wide-footprint lasers on the department\ue2\u20ac\u2122s implementation of its existing ride specifications (Phase I).2. Investigated the existing methodology for evaluating localized roughness (Phase II)