Abstract:
Pavement serviceability is the concept representing the level of service
that pavement structure offers to the road users. International Roughness Index (IRI)
and Present Serviceability index (PSI) are the parameters which are used to represent
the performance of pavement. Road roughness is considered to be themost important
parameter affecting vehicle operating costs which account for a large proportion of
total transport costs. Roughness is concerned with vehicle vibration, operating speed
and wear & tear of the wheels. It affects the road user cost to a significant extent.
Therefore, roughness of the pavement plays the decisive role in exercising the option
of implementing the optimum maintenance and rehabilitation strategies of the road
network at appropriate time. Four study stretches, which include conventional and
treated, each of 400 m long were selected. The pavement distresses are collected,
processed and analysed for developing a deterioration model. Pavement distress viz
cracking, rutting, ravelling, potholes, patching were measured. Rating (both visual
and ride rating) studies were also carried. An attempt ismade to develop International
Roughness Index equation for the selected study stretches. A model is developed
to correlate International Roughness Index (IRI) with different types of pavement
distresses.
