Study of Site-Specific Roughness Progression for a Bitumen-Sealed Unbound Granular Pavement Network

Pavement management systems assist engineers in the analysis of road network pavement condition data and subsequently provide input to the planning and prioritization of road infrastructure works programs. The data also provide input to a variety of engineering and economic analyses that assist in determining the future road network condition for a range of infrastructure-funding scenarios. The fundamental calculation of future pavement condition is commonly based on a pavement age versus pavement roughness relationship. However, roughness–age relationships commonly do not take into account the pavement’s historical performance; rather, an “average” rate of roughness progression is assigned to each pavement based on its current age or current roughness measurement. Results of a research project are documented; the project involved a comprehensive evaluation of pavement performance by examining roughness progression over time with other related variables. A method of calculating and effectively displaying roughness progression and the effects of pavement maintenance was developed. The method provides a better understanding of pavement performance, which in turn led to a methodology of calculating and reporting road network performance for application to the pavement design and delivery system in Queensland, Australia. Means of using this information to improve the accuracy of roughness progression prediction were also investigated.