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Construction and Maintenance Fact SheetsOptimizing Highway Performance: Enhancing Pavement SmoothnessDecember 1998 Advanced Profiling Equipment Improves Construction Quality Control and Accelerates Acceptance TestingA recent National Quality Initiative (NQI) survey indicated that pavement smoothness is the most significant measure motorists use to judge the quality of our Nation's roads. Pavement smoothness directly relates to driver comfort as well as pavement life expectancy. New lightweight equipment for measuring pavement smoothness can help contractors save significant time and money on road construction and resurfacing projects. Lightweight profiling equipment automates the process of data collection and analysis, providing instantaneous test results. These lightweight profilers can be used within hours after paving, enabling contractors to take immediate corrective action. Fast and accurate, an advanced lightweight profiler can pay for itself on its first project, helping contractors to spot quality control issues more promptly and cost-effectively. Partnerships Promote New Technology, Common StandardsIn partnership with the Road Profilers Users Group (RPUG), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA), National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA), and equipment manufacturers, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is helping to accelerate the use of advanced profiling equipment as well as the development and implementation of common standards for pavement smoothness. FHWA has partnered with six State highway agencies to field-test, evaluate, and document the effectiveness of select lightweight profiling equipment in comparison with the States' existing practices. In addition, FHWA will facilitate the development of a technical guide that would include information on:
Lightweight Profilers Provide Improved Smoothness ControlA typical lightweight profiler features state-of-the-art measuring equipment mounted on an all-terrain vehicle. A non-contact sensor collects data as the profiler travels the pavement surface. The raw data is stored in an on-board computer for processing. Profile data can be analyzed under various roughness indices, including the International Roughness Index (IRI), Profile Index (PI), and Ride Number (RN), and the results can be viewed on-screen or output to a printer. Advanced lightweight profiling equipment is faster and more accurate than traditional methods of measuring initial pavement smoothness and can help contractors improve construction quality control, accelerate acceptance testing, and reduce related costs. New FHWA Program Targets Improved Construction And Maintenance OperationsFHWA's pavement smoothness initiatives are part of an evolving program, called "Optimizing Highway Performance: Meeting the Customer's Needs," which is designed to identify and promote new ways of addressing our Nation's highway infrastructure needs, while at the same time minimizing delays to the traveling public. The program evaluates techniques, methods, and devices that increase efficiency, accelerate operations, reduce delay and disruption, and enhance safety. Specific areas of focus include:
To learn more about advanced profiling equipment, contact: George Jones PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®
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