Impact of Pavement Surface Monitoring Frequency on Pavement Management Decision Making

Highway agencies collect pavement condition data over time to manage their network in a cost-effective manner. However, there exist differences among highway agencies for data collection monitoring frequency. While most agencies collect sensor-based data (roughness, rut depth, and faulting) on a yearly basis, image-based data (cracking and other pavement defects) are collected every other year or on a three-year basis. The main reason for the differences is the relative difficulties (cost, resources, and technology) in collecting and processing imaging data. While monitoring frequency has an impact on performance prediction at project-level, it can also affect pavement management system (PMS) decisions at the network-level. Such decisions include identification of project boundaries, optimum timing of pavement fixes, and selection of the most cost-effective pavement preservation strategy. In this paper, PMS data from the state of Washington and MnRoad for flexible and rigid pavements were analyzed to determine the impact of monitoring frequency on the PMS decisions. Results of the analyses show that monitoring frequency may affect the identification of project boundaries, optimum fix type, and timing. These effects have implications on the cost effectiveness of the pavement management strategy.