Using a 2D Profilometer to Determine Volume and Thickness of Stockpiles and Ground Layers of Roads
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 149, Issue 1
Abstract
Construction materials and related management, handling, and storage provisions account for a large portion of road construction expenses. For that reason, improved material flow monitoring techniques can achieve significant cost and time savings, as well as better quality control. This study assessed the performance of a solid-state pulsed time-of-flight laser lidar profilometer in measuring the volume of soil stockpiles and road layer thicknesses. The 3D (X, Y, Z, and intensity) image calculation was based on the analysis of multiple combined point clouds measured with an excavator-integrated profilometer. Error analysis confirmed the accuracy of road layer thickness estimation within one centimeter and an error level of approximately 3% when measuring soil stockpile volumes. In conjunction with a theoretical model of the superstructure, this 3D measurement technique can help contractors and supervisors ensure road quality.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge funding from Business Finland (38056/31/2020) and the Academy of Finland under Grant (339997). In addition, the authors thank Mr. Jarmo Kuure and Mr. Samuli Anttila of the Educational Consortium OSAO Haukipudas, Finland for their arrangements and participation in experimental tests.
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Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 149 • Issue 1 • March 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 14, 2022
Accepted: Sep 30, 2022
Published online: Nov 26, 2022
Published in print: Mar 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 26, 2023
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