Wouter Gulden,
P.E.
Georgia Department of Transportation
No. 2 Capitol Square
Atlanta, GA 30334
Report No. FHWA-TS-86-201
April 1986
The research project was conducted to evaluate the performance of an inexpensive non-contract roughness measuring device, Roughness Surveyor, as well as the potential use of this device as a calibration reference for Response-Type Road Roughness Measuring (RTRRM) systems. A correlation was also conducted between RTRRM systems from three different states (Georgia, Florida, and Minnesota) against the Roughness Surveyor, the inertial profilometer owned by the Ohio DOT, and the profilometer designed and operated by the South Dakota DOT.
A total
of sixteen test sites were selected for the correlation and calibration
study with a total of 52 individual test sections encompassing a variety
of roughness levels and pavement surface types. The results of the roughness
testing showed an excellent correlation between all the devices. The standard
error of estimate, however, was rather large for some of the linear regression
equations. The units from Florida, Ohio, and South Dakota provided serviceability
index ratings. An analysis of these ratings indicated that different values
were obtained between the units on the same test sections.
The evaluation of the Roughness Surveyor indicated that the roughness results obtained were insensitive to speed variations. Problems were encountered with obtaining valid roughness readings on extremely rough textured surfaces, such as surface treatment. The testing repeatability of the Roughness Surveyor was not as good as that obtained with the Ohio Profilometer and slightly better than two of the three RTRRM systems. The day-to-day variability was much higher for the Roughness Surveyor than for the Ohio Profilometer and the RTRRM systems.
key words: calibration, profilometer, roadmeters, roughness testing
This document
is available to the public through NTIS, Springfield, VA 22161.
Last Modified: March 20, 2007
Maintained by: traffic@nmsu.edu
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