The Highways Agency commissioned TRL to develop an alternative means of inspecting highways for cracking that could be conducted at traffic speeds, did not involve lane closures, was objective and which would be cheaper than approaches requiring a lot of personnel. Recent research has shown that deterioration of thick flexible pavements begins with surface cracking and that surveillance and timely repair is economic. Trials were initially undertaken of video image collection methods to identify the best option to identify cracks and other defects >2mm in size. Artificial lighting proved essential. Linescan cameras used to collect the images, the image processing system, crack identification performance, pavement profile measurement, and routine application to the road network are described. The future of traffic-speed condition measurement is discussed including noise prediction, targeted high resolution profile surveys and improving ride quality. For the covering abstract see ITRD E118297.
Abstract