New methods of collecting data on pavement rutting have enabled a more extensive use of this distress for pavement maintenance. However, rut dpeth is merely an indicator of road rideability and does not itself provide enough information on the cause of pavement rutting. A statistical analysis of longitudinal variation of rut depth may indicate whether a certain layer is deformed, compacted or abraded. Traffic and environmental data seem to be needed for feasible analyses. Measurements repeated three times a year or more will certainly indicate if rutting can be attributed to studded tire wear, and one may also infer from these measurements when deformation during hotdays occurs. Deep-lying deformations may be related to wet seasons or freeze-thaw cycles. Finally, by comparing certain properties of transversal profiles, such as how wide and how far apart the wheel tracks are, one may have a good basis for taking the right maintenanceactions as the distress itself reflects the cause of it. In order to do so, it is imperative that the resolution be adequate both transversally and longitudinally. If this is the case, the profile evaluation method seems to be most appropriate when climate, subgrade, pavement and traffic data are scarce. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1196, Pavement evaluation and rehabilitation.
Abstract