There is a increasing awareness of the importance of the contribution of pavement texture to skid resistance. Pavement texture has been characterized in this study by using several parameters which were calculated from microprofile measurement. These parameters were correlated with skid resistance measured at 20 miles-per-hour and 50 miles-per-hour velocities by a two-wheeled test trailer. An instrument was designed to measure accurately the profile of the pavement surface. This equipment is sensitive to vertical measurements as small as 42 micro inches and as large as one inch. A method was devised to separate the smaller aggregate texture from the large scale pavement texture. An analysis of aggregate texture indicates that a combination of both types are necessary to describe skid resistance.
Abstract