A probability-based analysis for identifying pavement deflection test intervals for road data collection

This paper presents a probability-based method of goodness-of-fit test to determine spacing intervals for pavement deflection tests at the network level. One of the issues in road asset management is the high cost of collecting pavement deflection data at the network level. In a pilot study, Falling Weight Deflectometer Deflection tests were conducted on a 92-kilometer road length of a national highway in Queensland, Australia. The majority of the tests were performed at 200-meter spacing for both inner and outer wheel paths. A probability-based analysis using goodness-of-fit technique showed that the mean, standard deviation and probability distribution of deflection data collected at 1000-meter intervals were similar in value to the mean, standard deviation and probability distribution for data collected at 200-meter intervals. The findings indicated that pavement deflection data could be collected at 1000-meter intervals rather than at 200-meter intervals. This could result in a substantial decrease in the cost of data collection of road pavement deflection data while still achieving similar pavement performance prediction outcomes.