Comprehensive evaluation of automated pavement condition survey service providers' technical competence

Abstract

High-quality pavement condition data are fundamental to pavement management, but the collection of these data is costly and time-consuming with steadily increasing complexity in equipment and procedures. Evaluating the technical competence of an automated pavement condition survey service provider presents unique challenges to highway agencies, because the technologies are rapidly advancing and the technical details are often outside the skill set of pavement engineers and managers. This study presents recent technological and procedural innovations in evaluating multiple bids for a statewide survey of California. These include evaluation on an item-by-item basis instead of comparing a derived composite index, combining several independent measurements of the same item to improve the quality of ground truth results and the synchronisation of profiles and pavement images to strengthen the credibility of assessment.

Keywords:

• automated pavement condition survey
• pavement management
• quality management
• quality assurance
• bidder evaluation

Acknowledgements

The work presented in this paper was sponsored by the California Department of Transportation, Division of Research and Innovation and the Office of Pavement Management of the Division of Maintenance. Caltrans sponsorship is gratefully acknowledged. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The content does not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the State of California or the Federal Highway Administration. This paper does not constitute a standard specification or regulation. Creative inputs and feedback from the Caltrans APCS Demonstration Evaluation Panel are gratefully appreciated. Panel members included Mr Tom Pyle, Dr T.J. Holland, Dr James N. Lee, Mr Peter Vacura and Mr Robert Hogan. The authors also want to acknowledge the efforts of Mr Mark Hannum, Mr Mark Troxler and other participants of this study at the UCPRC in equipment improvement and data collection.