This study aimed at investigating the current practices and methods adopted by roads agencies around the world with regard to collection, analysis and utilization of the data elements pertaining to the main pavement condition indicators in pavement management systems (PMS). It also aimed at identifying the main predictors associated with each condition indicator and the factors that govern pavement structural and functional performance. Development of a new performance index that incorporates parameters or measures related to the main condition indicators (surface defects, roughness, deflection and skid resistance) and establishing the weight to be assigned to each indicator based on the relative impact on pavement condition was also one of the main objectives of this study. Thousands of pavement sections were subjected to thorough testing and inspection over the last few years to collect data pertaining to the main condition indicators. The collected data encompass visual distress survey, deflection measurements, roughness and skid resistance measurements. Collection of various condition indicators was accomplished according to well known international standards. The collected data were processed, tabulated and analyzed for the purpose of development of performance models and to prove certain theories or good practices. / Advanced tools and machines were utilized to collect these data with a high degree of accuracy. The Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) was used to collect deflection data for structural analysis. Two Non-contact laser roughness measuring devices mounted on vehicles were heavily used for collecting roughness, texture, and rutting data. Distress data were collected using a manual procedure adopted and standardized at the Pavement Management System Unit of Dubai Emirate. Powerful engineering and statistical softwares were used in the analysis for the purpose of processing the data, back calculating the main parameters pertaining to pavement response, establishing the correlation matrices between various dependent variables and their predictors, and finally, applying linear and non linear regression analysis to develop reliable and predictable deterioration models for the uses of pavement management system. The analysis procedure was supplemented by a vast literature review for the up to date information along within deep investigations and verifications for some of the current practices, theories and models used in pavement design and pavement evaluation with more emphasis on the inherent drawbacks associated to these models and procedures. The study confirmed that pavement condition deterioration and performance can be best predicted and evaluated based on four main condition indicators; First, surface distress to assess the physical condition of the pavements and detect the inherent problems and defects caused by various factors affecting pavement performance. Second; roughness measurements to evaluate the riding quality of the pavement. / Third; deflection to calculate pavement response (stress and strains) and to assess pavement structural capacity and calculating the remaining life, and finally, skid resistance measurement to assess the level of safety and surface texture properties. Thorough study and investigation of the physical condition indicators and the associated parameters, confirmed that pavement distress data are vital elements in each pavement management system. Distress data can be used effectively to identify the main problems associated with pavement performance, causes of deterioration, maintenance measures needed to prevent the acceleration of the distress, the rehabilitation schemes needed to improve the pavement condition and finally to prepare maintenance work programs and to estimate the annual maintenance needs under an open or limited budget. Alligator cracking was found to have the heaviest impact on pavement condition. Distress density, probable causes of deterioration and distress propagation rate are the required parameters in PMS. Roughness was found to have a basic influence on pavement condition and the type of selected treatment. The use of Roughness data in terms of International Roughness Index (IRI) can be optimized in PMS by using this indicator in the following forms: / Roughness, as an objective measure, can be used as a good performance predictor of the current riding quality of pavements in service and reflects the inherent imperfections and built-in irregularities embodied in the road pavement surface. Roughness measurement can be used as a reference to establish construction specifications and provides through the PMS system an organized feedback approach to correct the persistent design deficiencies detected after road construction. Roughness can be used effectively in the planning process for maintenance works and to select the candidate sections through calculating the functional remaining life based on the estimated terminal value using Roughness-Age, Roughness-ESAL, and Roughness-PSI models. Lane–IRI along with the Difference between the left and right wheel IRI values, termed as “ Yaw” are the most suitable forms to be used in PMS to report about roughness characteristics. Yaw term can be used effectively to report or feed back about geometric imperfections that exist on the road surface such as improper cross slope, shoving and the probable drainage problems. The roughness cumulative distribution curves can be used as a planning tool in PMS to report at the network level. These curves indicate the network health and the required funding at different level of risks, so proactive measures can be taken and the required budgets can be made available. / Deflection data were found to form a basic component of the PMS. It was found that these data can be used at both network and project levels. Direct deflection measurements were found Not to be the ideal form to report about structural capacity at the network level. It is rather can be used at project level to detect weak spots and critical pavements layers. At the network level, the back calculated parameters from deflection basin such as Pavement Modulus (Ep), Asphalt and Pavement Curvature (CUR), Cross Sectional Area and the other deflection basin characteristics are much more appropriate for reporting about pavement structural conditions and calculating the structural remaining life in PMS. The design deflection and curvature that characterize the pavement have been found to be calculated based on the mean along with the two times the standard deviation of the measured data. The Effective Structural Number (SNeff) was found to have good correlations with the Total Pavement Thickness (Ht), the value of the deflection measured at the center of the loading plate ( D0 ) and the difference between D0 and the deflection measured at 450mm from the center of the loading plate ( D0 - D450 ). The first two variables were found to account for more than 92% of the structural capacity prediction model. / Traffic variable in terms of the accumulated standard repetitions (ESAL) was found to account for more than 60% of the deflection model predictability. Other variables such as E value, asphalt and base layer thicknesses can improve the predictability of the model if included. The concept of the relative value of effective pavement modulus to the original pavement modulus (Eeff/E0) was found to gives a reliable representation about the exhausted and the remaining life of the in-service pavement structure. The study showed that the pavement is reported to be structurally failed, when the effective asphalt or pavement modulus is about 20 - 35 % of its original design value which is equal to the modulus of the unbound material. It was also found that when the area of the fatigue cracking and the patching distresses exceeds 17% of the total pavement section area, or the depth of rutting is more than 15mm, the pavement is reported to be structurally failed and major rehabilitation or reconstruction should be applied. Skid resistance can be reported in the form of International Friction Index (IFI), as a well defined universal index, along with other two numbers; F60 Friction (Microtexture) related number measured at 60 km/h velocity and Macrotexture related number and Vp, which constitute the IFI index can be used in Pavement management system applications to report about skid resistance characteristics and the network level of safety. These three figures can be used to report about pavement condition, accidents, airports operations, and maintenance management surveys. / In this study, new methods and models were developed and suggested to be used in PMS as an alternative to the current available methods which were found to be impractical in certain cases. Finally, further research efforts are recommended to explore the uses of other parameters in particular those related to deflection basin analysis, cross sectional area, curvature, and pavement moduli. Skid resistance testing and reporting method should be subjected to further research works for the purpose of standardizing reporting methods, identifying the relative impact of main predictors i.e. megatexture, macrotexture and microtexture components and to develop performance models.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo pesquisar a tipologia e as possíveis causas da ocorrência das patologias em pavimentos de concreto armado, bem como verificar a aplicabilidade e analisar criticamente os métodos de avaliação do estado funcional destes pavimentos. São apresentados os tipos e os graus de severidade das patologias descritas no método do United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), bem como os métodos de avaliação da superfície dos pavimentos de concreto, dentre eles, o índice internacional de irregularidade (International Roughness Index - IRI), o quociente de irregularidade (QI), o valor da serventia atual (VSA) e a avaliação subjetiva e objetiva do índice de condição do pavimento (ICP). A aplicação prática se concentrou nos estudos de caso de quatro pavimentos de concreto armado, sendo um pavimento urbano e três pavimentos industriais, realizando a avaliação detalhada das patologias existentes nos pavimentos em serviço, com posterior cálculo do valor do ICP. Foi avaliada também a irregularidade longitudinal (IRI), com um perfilômetro inercial, no estudo de caso do pavimento urbano, com o intuito de verificar se este método apresenta correlação com o critério do ICP para o caso dos pavimentos de concreto armado como indicador de desempenho. Os levantamentos permitiram verificar valores intermediários de ICP para os pavimentos analisados e que tal situação é decorrente principalmente de falhas construtivas. Os defeitos catalogados no manual do ICP são suficientes para descrição das patologias encontradas durante os levantamentos. Com o auxílio de uma maior quantidade de levantamentos seria possível estabelecer relações entre ICP e IRI sendo que a relação encontrada com base no universo estudado foi fraca, embora aponte uma tendência. O trabalho enfatiza o estudo e a aplicabilidade do método de avaliação objetiva do USACE que é amplamente empregado nos E.U.A. Por fim discute possível relação entre os valores do ICP e do IRI no caso estudado. / This research aimed to verify types and possible causes for the occurrence of distresses in reinforced concrete pavements as well as to verify the applicability and critically examine the methods for assessment of the functional condition for such pavements. It is presented the distresses types and its severity levels described by the method of the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well as the methods for surface evaluation of concrete pavements, including the international roughness index (IRI), the quarter of car index (QI), the present serviceability ratio (PSR) and subjective and objective evaluation of the pavement condition index (PCI). The practice study focused in four cases of reinforced concrete pavements, an urban pavement and three industrials floors, consisting on detailed field evaluation of distresses with subsequent determination of PCI for several pavement sections. It was carried out a field measurement of IRI using an inertial profiler for the case of urban pavement, in order to verify whether this method could reflect the actual the performance of reinforced pavement concrete. The performed surveys allowed understanding that most of cases with low PCI values are due to constructive fails. The list of distresses suggested by PCI manual is suffice to identify the distresses found out during the surveys. However it shall be required a large amount of field surveys in order to define better correlation between PCI and IRI in view of the current results.

Pavement Management Systems (PMS) are widely used by transportation agencies to maintain safe, durable and economic road networks. PMS prioritize the maintenance and rehabilitation of pavement sections by evaluating pavement performance at the network level. There are many PMS software packages that have been developed over the past decades for provincial/state road agencies. However, sometimes due to lack of budget and experience, adopting the existing PMS for a road agency is not cost effective. Thus, it is important to introduce a simple, effective, and affordable PMS for a local agency and municipality. This research is carried out in partnership between the City of Markham and the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) located at the University of Waterloo. For the purpose of developing a PMS for local agencies, an extensive literature review on PMS components was carried out, with emphasizing data inventory, data collection, and performance evaluation. In addition, the literature review also concentrated on the overall pavement condition assessment. In July 2011, a study on “Evaluation of Pavement Distress Measurement Survey” was conducted as a part of this research and was distributed to cities and municipalities across Canada. The study focused on the current state-of-the-practice in pavement distress and condition evaluation methods used by local agencies to compare the results from the literature review. The components of the proposed PMS framework are also developed based on the literature review with some modifications and technical requirements. The City of Markham is selected as a case study, since it represents a local agency and provides all the data, to illustrate the validation of the proposed PMS framework.

Cost effective maintenance of pavement sections requires timely preventive maintenance and planned rehabilitation treatments. Knowledge of the increase in condition due to application of treatment and the loss of condition after treatment are essential when deciding the maintenance and rehabilitation treatments. Any error in formulating these values can cause significant changes in recommendations provided. Many researchers have developed pavement performance prediction models; however, less research has been done on the impact of treatment actions on the condition of a pavement section after treatments. The objective of the research is to develop equations, using deterministic empirical method, that predict the increase in pavement condition and rate of decrease in pavement condition after treatment actions with respect to pavement condition just before the treatment. The equations are developed for different treatments and different functional class, and surface type combination to quantify the impact of the treatment for the use in pavement management system. These equations can be used to quantify the effects of different treatments for the use in pavement management system. Numerical illustration is presented using the data from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission-Pavement Management System software developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) located in Oakland, California. A relation is observed between increase in pavement condition and pavement condition just before treatment for different treatments and different functional class and surface type combination. Hence the equations to determine the trend in increase in pavement condition for different treatments and different functional class and surface type combination are developed. For rate of decrease in pavement condition, due to large variability in the data the loss of pavement condition per year could not be related to pavement condition just before treatment. Hence the equations to determine the trend in loss in pavement condition after treatment could not be developed. The developed equations can be efficiently used to predict increase in pavement condition due to application of the treatment and the loss of pavement condition after treatment.

Pavement rutting is one of the major asphalt pavement surface distresses affecting pavement structure integrity and driving safety and is also a required performance measure specified in the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). Manual rutting measurement is still conducted by many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), like Georgia DOT; however, it is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and dangerous. Although point-based rut bar systems have been developed and utilized by state DOTs to measure rutting conditions, they often underestimate rut depth measurements. There is an urgent need to develop an automated method to accurately and reliably measure rutting conditions. With the advance of sensing technology, emerging 3D line laser imaging technology is capable of collecting high-resolution 3D range data at highway speed (e.g., 100 km/h) and, therefore, holds a great potential for accurately and repeatedly measuring pavement rutting condition. The main contribution of this research includes a methodology, along with a series of methods and procedures, for the first time, developed utilizing emerging 3D line laser imaging technology to improve existing 1D rut depth measurement accuracy and repeatability and to measure additional 2D and 3D rutting characteristics. These methods and procedures include: (1) a threshold-based outlier removal method employing the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) technique to remove outliers caused by non-rutting features, such as wide transverse cracks and potholes; (2) a modified topological-ordering-based segment clustering (MTOSC) method to optimally partition the continuous roadway network into segments with uniform rutting condition; (3) an overlapping-reducing heuristic method to solve large-scale segmentation problems; (4) a network-level rutting condition assessment procedure for analyzing 3D range data to statistically interpret the pavement rutting condition in support of network-level pavement management decisions; (5) an isolated rut detection method to determine the termini, maximum depth, and volume of isolated ruts in support of project-level maintenance operations. Comprehensive experimental tests were conducted in the laboratory and the field to validate the accuracy and repeatability of 1D rut depth obtained using the 3D range data. Experimental tests were also conducted in the laboratory to validate the accuracy of 3D rut volume. Case studies were conducted on one interstate highway (I-95), two state routes (SR 275 and SR 67), and one local road (Benton Blvd.) to demonstrate the capability of the developed methods and procedures. The results of experimental tests and case studies show that the proposed methodology is promising for improving the rutting measurement accuracy and reliability. This research is one of the initial effort in studying the applicability of this emerging sensing technology in pavement management. And the outcomes of this research will play a key role in advancing state DOTs’ existing pavement rutting condition assessment practices.

Pavement Management Systems (PMS) are widely used by transportation agencies to maintain safe, durable and economic road networks. PMS prioritize the maintenance and rehabilitation of pavement sections by evaluating pavement performance at the network level. There are many PMS software packages that have been developed over the past decades for provincial/state road agencies. However, sometimes due to lack of budget and experience, adopting the existing PMS for a road agency is not cost effective. Thus, it is important to introduce a simple, effective, and affordable PMS for a local agency and municipality. This research is carried out in partnership between the City of Markham and the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) located at the University of Waterloo. For the purpose of developing a PMS for local agencies, an extensive literature review on PMS components was carried out, with emphasizing data inventory, data collection, and performance evaluation. In addition, the literature review also concentrated on the overall pavement condition assessment. In July 2011, a study on “Evaluation of Pavement Distress Measurement Survey” was conducted as a part of this research and was distributed to cities and municipalities across Canada. The study focused on the current state-of-the-practice in pavement distress and condition evaluation methods used by local agencies to compare the results from the literature review. The components of the proposed PMS framework are also developed based on the literature review with some modifications and technical requirements. The City of Markham is selected as a case study, since it represents a local agency and provides all the data, to illustrate the validation of the proposed PMS framework.

abstract: Road networks are valuable assets that deteriorate over time and need to be preserved to an acceptable service level. Pavement management systems and pavement condition assessment have been implemented widely to routinely evaluate the condition of the road network, and to make recommendations for maintenance and rehabilitation in due time and manner. The problem with current practices is that pavement evaluation requires qualified raters to carry out manual pavement condition surveys, which can be labor intensive and time consuming. Advances in computing capabilities, image processing and sensing technologies has permitted the development of vehicles equipped with such technologies to assess pavement condition. The problem with this is that the equipment is costly, and not all agencies can afford to purchase it. Recent researchers have developed smartphone applications to address this data collection problem, but only works in a restricted set up, or calibration is recommended. This dissertation developed a simple method to continually and accurately quantify pavement condition of an entire road network by using technologies already embedded in new cars, smart phones, and by randomly collecting data from a population of road users. The method includes the development of a Ride Quality Index (RQI), and a methodology for analyzing the data from multi-factor uncertainty. It also derived a methodology to use the collected data through smartphone sensing into a pavement management system. The proposed methodology was validated with field studies, and the use of Monte Carlo method to estimate RQI from different longitudinal profiles. The study suggested RQI thresholds for different road settings, and a minimum samples required for the analysis. The implementation of this approach could help agencies to continually monitor the road network condition at a minimal cost, thus saving millions of dollars compared to traditional condition surveys. This approach also has the potential to reliably assess pavement ride quality for very large networks in matter of days. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

Este trabalho teve como objetivo pesquisar a tipologia e as possíveis causas da ocorrência das patologias em pavimentos de concreto armado, bem como verificar a aplicabilidade e analisar criticamente os métodos de avaliação do estado funcional destes pavimentos. São apresentados os tipos e os graus de severidade das patologias descritas no método do United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), bem como os métodos de avaliação da superfície dos pavimentos de concreto, dentre eles, o índice internacional de irregularidade (International Roughness Index - IRI), o quociente de irregularidade (QI), o valor da serventia atual (VSA) e a avaliação subjetiva e objetiva do índice de condição do pavimento (ICP). A aplicação prática se concentrou nos estudos de caso de quatro pavimentos de concreto armado, sendo um pavimento urbano e três pavimentos industriais, realizando a avaliação detalhada das patologias existentes nos pavimentos em serviço, com posterior cálculo do valor do ICP. Foi avaliada também a irregularidade longitudinal (IRI), com um perfilômetro inercial, no estudo de caso do pavimento urbano, com o intuito de verificar se este método apresenta correlação com o critério do ICP para o caso dos pavimentos de concreto armado como indicador de desempenho. Os levantamentos permitiram verificar valores intermediários de ICP para os pavimentos analisados e que tal situação é decorrente principalmente de falhas construtivas. Os defeitos catalogados no manual do ICP são suficientes para descrição das patologias encontradas durante os levantamentos. Com o auxílio de uma maior quantidade de levantamentos seria possível estabelecer relações entre ICP e IRI sendo que a relação encontrada com base no universo estudado foi fraca, embora aponte uma tendência. O trabalho enfatiza o estudo e a aplicabilidade do método de avaliação objetiva do USACE que é amplamente empregado nos E.U.A. Por fim discute possível relação entre os valores do ICP e do IRI no caso estudado. / This research aimed to verify types and possible causes for the occurrence of distresses in reinforced concrete pavements as well as to verify the applicability and critically examine the methods for assessment of the functional condition for such pavements. It is presented the distresses types and its severity levels described by the method of the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well as the methods for surface evaluation of concrete pavements, including the international roughness index (IRI), the quarter of car index (QI), the present serviceability ratio (PSR) and subjective and objective evaluation of the pavement condition index (PCI). The practice study focused in four cases of reinforced concrete pavements, an urban pavement and three industrials floors, consisting on detailed field evaluation of distresses with subsequent determination of PCI for several pavement sections. It was carried out a field measurement of IRI using an inertial profiler for the case of urban pavement, in order to verify whether this method could reflect the actual the performance of reinforced pavement concrete. The performed surveys allowed understanding that most of cases with low PCI values are due to constructive fails. The list of distresses suggested by PCI manual is suffice to identify the distresses found out during the surveys. However it shall be required a large amount of field surveys in order to define better correlation between PCI and IRI in view of the current results.

<div>A transportation system plays a significant role in the economic development of a region by facilitating the movement of goods and services. No matter how well the infrastructure is designed or constructed, it is beneficial to know maintenance needs in the life cycle of the infrastructure so that the service life of the pavement is prolonged by minimizing its life-cycle cost requirements. The pavement life-cycle performance helps maintenance investment decision-makers to efficiently utilize the available infrastructure funds. This research focuses on developing</div><div>a framework for identifying a more effective and efficient way of decision making on the management and maintenance of infrastructure. The developed framework uses an agent-based modeling approach to capture the interaction that exists between different components of the transportation system and their characteristics such as traffic volume and pavement condition, user cost, agency cost, etc. The developed agent-based is useful to investigate the effects of time-varying vehicular density on pavement deterioration and the road users’ driving behavior. The developed framework was demonstrated as a two-lane highway as a case study. Using the developed agent-based simulation framework, it was possible to identify when the road</div><div>infrastructure maintenance should be done to increase the desired PCR value. Also, it was possible to show a decrease in PCR can affect the cost of road users. The framework can track the time to determine when maintenance should be done based on the PCR values that determine whether the</div><div>pavement is in good, moderate, or bad condition. Regardless of the degree of road users’ patience to stay in their travel lanes (patience), the vehicle distribution on the road is balanced in the long run because road users tend to change their travel lanes to minimize their overall travel times. When the patient level is low, road users tend to change lanes more, causing a high number of vehicles on the left lane as it is considered the lane changing lane in two-lane highways. It was also observed that as the patience of the road users increases, the number of vehicles that use the right lane is almost the same as the number of vehicles that use the left lane.</div>

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