A HIERARCHICAL HIDDEN MARKOV DETERIORATION MODEL FOR PAVEMENT STRUCTURE

Abstract

 The deterioration process of pavement is a complex process including the deterioration of road surface and the decrease in load bearing capacity of the entire pavement. The decrease in load bearing capacity influences the deterioration rate of road surface. The soundness of road surface can be observed by a road surface condition investigation. On the other hand, the decrease in load bearing capacity can be partially observed through the FWD testing, etc. In this study, such a deterioration process of road surface is described as a mixed Markov process that depends on the load bearing capacity of pavement. Then, the complex deterioration process, which is composed of the deterioration of road surface and the decrease in load bearing capacity of pavement, is expressed as a hierarchical hidden Markov deterioration model. Through a case study of the application into the expressway, a hierarchical hidden Markov deterioration model is estimated, and its applicability and effectiveness are empirically discussed.