Research
Funded Research
Transition from Manual to Automatic Rutting Measurement: Effect on Pavement Serviceability Index Values
The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) has recently awarded $60,000 to researchers in the civil engineering department for evaluating a new method of measuring road conditions.
One of the important parameters that determine the condition or serviceability level of a highway pavement network is the rut depth. Rutting is the longitudinal depression that occurs on the surface of asphalt pavements along the wheel paths as a result of traffic loads and is an indication of possible pavement structural or material failure.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) currently uses rut depth measurements collected manually in more than 15,000 sections of highway pavements throughout the state. The NMDOT wants to use data obtained with a high-speed profilometer instead of manual rut depth measurements for assessing pavement conditions. The main motivation for transitioning from manual to automatic rut depth measurements is to increase the safety of pavement evaluation crews and the traveling public by eliminating the need for performing manual rut measurements in the roadways.
However, this change brings the challenge of dealing with two completely different data sets in terms of equipment used, rating criteria, frequency and accuracy of measurements, and data reliability. The NMSU principal investigators will analyze the historic data of manual and automatic rut depth measurements to determine statistical trends and correlations, perform equipment calibration and field tests, and estimate measurement errors and reliability of both methods. The final outcome will be a modified or revised formulation for assessing pavement serviceability using automatic rut depth measurements.
The principal investigators for the project are Drs. Paola Bandini, Jie Zhang and Ruinian Jiang in the civil engineering department.