Specifying Automated Pavement Condition Surveys

Between 1994 and 2004, the number of U.S. and Canadian Departments of Transportation (DOTs) using automated techniques to record pavement surface distresses increased fourfold to approximately 30. Twenty more U.S. state agencies can be expected to automate techniques in the near future. The typical agency will use vans traveling at highway speeds to automatically measure roadway roughness, rutting, joint faulting, and cracking. This paper describes the upgrade of the Alabama Department of Transportation's automated pavement condition data survey specifications. The objective of the paper is to provide information concerning costs, standards, and survey methodology that will be valuable to other DOTs as they add automation to their systems.