Effective Use of Traffic Speed Deflectometer for Network-based and Project-based Applications
For informed and more cost-effective maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) needs assessments, the structural and surface conditions should be incorporated into the pavement management decision-making processes. The desire to characterize the network-level structural conditions in recent years has led to research efforts to investigate, validate, and demonstrate the effectiveness of Traffic Speed Deflectometer Devices (TSDDs). Several algorithms exist to provide the network-level and project-level information. However, none of them have considered the uncertainty of the field data in terms of the limitations of the sensors. For example, there is a certain minimum deflection velocity below which the results are unreliable. If the sensor is placed at a distance where the measured deflection velocities are less than that threshold, their magnitude is of little value in the analysis. On the other hand, if the precision of the measurement is extremely high, it would be hard to assign a representative value. Recent studies have shown that these types of uncertainty can be observed in several cases depending on the type and stiffness of the pavement. With the desire to automate the analysis, the reasonableness of the assumptions made in the analysis based on the uncertainties in the measurement should be considered to verify the veracity of the outcome. For example, one should understand when the measurement uncertainties of the deflection velocities with the farther sensors can influence the conversion of deflection velocities to deflections. As such, this study aims to identify and propose robust indices for network and project level applications and best-suited procedures for implementing them based on the type of pavement and the characteristics of the hardware of the device. The goals of this project are to provide guidelines and define processes to maximize the information and minimize the cost of network- and project-level uses of TSDDs. The first outcome is a guideline to help the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) partners select the best types of pavements that can be analyzed with confidence given the limitations of TSD. The second outcome of the project is a recommendation of the best data analysis procedures from those that have been proposed by several organizations. These algorithms will be selected in cooperation with TAP as part of Task 2. The outcomes of this study will be of particular value to SHAs to maximize their benefit-cost-ratio of using TSDDs by avoiding data collection on sections that are outside the useful range of operation of TSD (as discussed above) and using the best algorithm to analyze the data collected that balances the uncertainties in the measurements with the rigor of analysis.
- Record URL:
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Supplemental Notes:
- National Road Research Study Phase II: TPF-5(466)
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $150000
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Contract Numbers:
1055530
- Sponsor Organizations: St. Paul, MN United States 55155
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Managing Organizations:
Minnesota Department of Transportation
395 John Ireland Boulevard
St Paul, MN United States 55155 -
Project Managers:
Worel, Benjamin
- Performing Organizations: El Paso, TX
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Principal Investigators:
Nazarian, Soheil
- Start Date: 20240502
- Expected Completion Date: 20260430
- Actual Completion Date: 0
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Algorithms; Data analysis; Data collection; Deflectometers; Pavement distress; Sensors; Structural health monitoring; Traffic speed measurement; Uncertainty
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01926762
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Minnesota Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 1055530
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Aug 9 2024 2:23PM