Assessing Maintenance Needs:

Maintenance needs can be assessed by a careful inspection of roads at regular intervals, observing defects such as :

• potholes
• cracks
• settlements
• erosion of embankment slopes
• functioning of cross-drainage works
• condition of road signs, road marking and other safety devices

The modern method of assessing the riding quality of a road is by a Bump Integrator machine, towed by a vehicle at a speed of 30 Km/hr. The Bump Integrator (BI) value is expressed in mm/Km. The following gives the rough guide for BI value.

Table: Typical bump Integrator Values in mm/Km

A simple method of assessing the condition of a low volume rural road is by means of a Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The PCI value ranges from 1 (Very Poor) to 5 (Very Good) and can be assessed by one of the following methods :

(a) Based on visual inspection

(b) Based riding comfort, when travelling at 50 Km/hr speed

(c) Based on comfortable driving speed possible

Table : PCI Value Based on Visual Inspection