The Australian 3D Roughness Experience

Most road agencies are willing to take advantage of new developments in automated data capture if it helps them to better manage their road networks. However, the acceptance process for new technologies can be a long and arduous task for service providers and equipment vendors with ultimate success often depending on how well the equipment can reproduce historical data or whether they meet existing test methods or standards. Road agencies in Australia are only just beginning to utilize 3D1 systems for monitoring their road network surveys and up until now they have been predominantly used for crack measurement. However, these systems are also capable of measuring a variety of other pavement condition indicators, one of which is road roughness. This paper investigates whether the roughness measurements made by a 3D system can meet the current requirements specified in the Australian test methods for measuring pavement roughness.