SMART quality control analysis of pavement condition data for pavement management applications

Abstract

Assuring the accuracy and reliability of pavement condition data is crucial for effective decision-making in pavement management. Despite existing data collection protocols, concerns persist regarding data quality. This paper introduces SMART, a systematic statistical method designed to analyze the quality of pavement condition data from field surveys for pavement management applications. SMART employs a structured procedure that expands traditional descriptive statistics by applying interrater reliability statistics combined with bootstrapping methods and Modified-Blant Altman diagrams to evaluate data quality. A comparative analysis of interrater statistics, including Cohen’s Kappa (CK), Interclass Correlation (IC), Krippendorff’s Alpha (KA), Percent Agreement (PA), and Weighted Cohen’s Kappa (WCK), is conducted in the research study. As a result, the adoption of KA and Modified Bland-Altman diagrams for data analysis is recommended. KA demonstrates versatility across diverse data types, accommodating nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio-level data, while Modified Bland-Altman diagrams facilitate data dispersion analysis to visualize possible bias trends for the condition ratings. A case study is presented to demonstrate the applicability of SMART to analyzing Pavement Condition Index (PCI) data provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in California. This methodological approach aims to enhance pavement management decisions by ensuring the reliability of condition field survey data through the implementation of robust analytical quality control procedures.