Evaluation Of Pavement Surface Distress Using Digital Image Collection And Analysis

Local Authority road networks commonly include roads with different functional characteristics and a variety of construction types, which require maintenance solutions tailored to their needs. Given this background, on local road network, pavement management is founded on the experience of the agency engineers and is often constrained by low budgets and a variety of environmental and external requirements. This paper forms part of a research work that investigates the use of digital techniques for obtaining field data in order to increase safety and reduce labour cost requirements using a semi-automated distress collection and measurement system. More specifically, a definition of a distress detection procedure is presented which aims at producing a result complying more closely to the distress identification manuals and protocols. The process comprises the following two steps: Automated pavement image collection. Images are collected using the high speed digital acquisition system of the Mobile Laboratory designed and implemented by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Catania; Distress Detection. By way of the Pavement Distress Analyser (PDA), a specialised software, images are adjusted to eliminate their optical distortion. Cracks, potholes and patching are automatically detected and subsequently classified by means of an operator assisted approach. An intense, experimental field survey has made it possible to establish that the procedure obtains more consistent distress measurements than a manual survey thus increasing its repeatability, reducing costs and increasing safety during the survey. Moreover, the pilot study made it possible to validate results coming from a survey carried out under normal traffic conditions, concluding that it is feasible to integrate the procedure into a roadway pavement management system.