An alternative approach to pavement roughness evaluation

Although structural capacity seems to be the major concern of many pavement engineers, road users primarily judge the quality of a road based on its roughness or ride quality. Several parameters influence the ride quality of pavements as felt by the road users. These parameters include pavement surface characteristics, as well vehicle characteristics such as vehicle response and speed. In the present study these parameters contribute to the pavement roughness evaluation by using proper mathematical models accomplished with field data analysis information. Furthermore, an alternative roughness index is developed taking into account the above parameters. The suggested index seems to have an advantage over the international roughness index (IRI) and the power spectral density (PSD) spectrum that is often applied for evaluating pavement roughness.