Relating Ride Quality and Structural Adequacy for Pavement Rehabilitation and Management Decisions

Abstract

Ride quality and structural adequacy are key pavement performance indicators. The relationship between these indicators has been a topic of frequent and continuing discussion in the pavement community, but an accepted and widely used relationship has not yet been identified. The objective of this study was to identify and verify the relationship between these two performance indicators, if any, with data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance Program. This study was meant to improve the evaluation and use of pavement condition data in pavement rehabilitation and design decisions. More specifically, it was intended to develop and document a mechanism to include values of both ride and structural adequacy within the context of current network-level pavement management system practices for highway agency implementation to ensure smooth pavements that are also structurally adequate. To accomplish the study objective, two major activities were carried out: a literature search to gather, review, and synthesize available information on relating ride quality and structural adequacy and a review and assessment of data from the Long-Term Pavement Performance Program to determine if such a relationship exists. These two activities—as well as their major findings, observations, and conclusions—are detailed; a viable relationship could not be identified.