Methodology for Estimation of Deduct Values for Pavement Rutting Incorporating Safety Considerations

Abstract

Rutting is a major form of distress that can be seen in asphalt pavements. Safety issues due to pavement rutting are mainly wet weather related, where ponding in ruts cause hydroplaning and loss of skid resistance in wet weather conditions. The current practice does not adequately evaluate pavement rutting based on these functional characteristics of the pavements. Criteria in pavement condition evaluation manuals for rutting severity assessment are primarily based on engineering judgment and focused on the pavement structural failure. Lack of a proper quantitative approach to determine the rut severity and pavement condition evaluation has resulted in the same severity classifications adopted for all types of highway irrespective of its design speed and pavement surface condition. This study proposes a methodology to estimate deduct values for ruts considering its impact on the pavement skid resistance which can be used to calculate the pavement condition index of roads incorporating safety considerations.