Chapter 6: Pavement data and surveys

Data is essential for the design of new pavements and for maintenance/rehabilitation designs for existing structures. Data for new pavement design is generally concerned with information relating to ground conditions and loading. During operational delivery, asset condition data, obtained from surveys, is used to plan maintenance interventions and design appropriate treatments. Occasionally this data can also be used to plan the disposal of assets that are no longer required, or are being replaced by new pavements. For disposal of obsolete pavements, the construction thickness and the identification of potentially hazardous materials is of primary importance.

Surveys to collect data range from ground investigations for new pavements through to testing in-service pavements to determine critical performance parameters such as their bearing capacity and skid resistance. In recent years, data has also included consideration of the environmental impact of pavements and the assessment of the impact of design decisions on the whole-life cost and carbon.