Development of a flexible pavement condition index for urban road network

Abstract

In the urban pavement management, it is essential to develop urban pavement condition indexes to support Municipal Secretariat for Infrastructure on decisions making in relation to maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R). The aim was to develop an urban pavement condition index (UPCI) for flexible pavements and perform a comparative analysis with some pavement condition indexes (PCI). The work method followed such steps: definition of sampling size; formation of rating panel and training; data collection about present serviceability rating (PSR) and flexible pavement distress; development of an UPCI; and, comparative analysis with some PCI. Multilinear regression modeling based on distresses and PSR carried out the UPCI, in accordance with some statistical assumptions such as homoscedasticity, serial correlation, multicollinearity and normality tests. The PCI chosen carried out variability between them and the PSR, which was statistically analyzed by errors and correlation tests. Lastly, the proposition of an urban pavement condition index for flexible pavement allows a better M&R planning, budget distribution and benefits to the population, because well-kept pavements promote comfort, travel time reduction and safety to the users.