Evaluation of High-Speed Profilers for Measurement of Asphalt Pavement Smoothness in Florida

The Florida Department of Transportation initiated a field study to assess the feasibility and appropriateness of implementing the use of laser-based high-speed profilers to automate its process of determination of ride acceptance. If a high-speed profiler is to be considered for determination of ride acceptance, it is essential that its level of accuracy and precision be assessed. For such a purpose, profile measurements were acquired by using five profilers concurrently on a large number of asphalt pavement sections. Also, to evaluate the effects of surface texture on these measurements, the test sections were randomly selected to include both open-and dense-graded surface mixtures. The profile data collected were first analyzed to determine the profile indices in terms of the ride number and the international roughness index at each test site. The results were then used as a basis for an evaluation of the repeatability and reproducibility of the profiling units. In addition, the effects of a profiler operating speed gradient as well as those of the pavement surface texture on roughness measurements were assessed.