With the increased utilisation of multi laser profilers for pavement condition monitoring and the development of new technologies such as scanning lasers, the width of transverse profiles being measured by automated data collection equipment is ever increasing. Whilst providing valuable information on national highways, freeways and toll roads with their traditionally wide carriageways, problems can arise on road networks with narrow seals, especially those with unsealed shoulders, where the outer lasers or the scan line extends beyond the pavement surface. In such instances, the rut depth measurements in the outer wheel path can be affected by factors such as vegetation or a build up of aggregate and soil on the shoulders which may encroach right up to the edge of the pavement. This paper details the results of a joint investigation between ARRB and the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources Tasmania (DIER) into improving the current algorithms employed by pavement condition providers to measure rutting on narrow seals, at both a project and network level, using multi laser profilers. A comparison is made between the outputs from the standard and modified algorithms using data collected over several test sections and across sections of the DIER's own road network. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. 0612AR242E.
Abstract