AUTOMATING INSPECTION OF HIGHWAY PAVEMENT SURFACES

Reliable, complete, and up-to-date information concerning the state of pavement surface is necessary for any cost-effective highway pavement management program. An automatic imaging system based on state-of-the-art video imaging technology using the shadow moire method for the quantitative inspection of highway pavement surface has been developed which includes image-analysis software for performing image enhancement and the analysis of the moire fringe patterns. The pavement surface reconstruction algorithm presented herein uses two moire interferograms of any point on the surface to obtain overlapping information for surface-elevation determination. The prototype system possesses a high degree of automation and gives enhanced pictures and accurate results. Also, such surface geometry information as profile. rut depth, and washboard depth may be obtained efficiently and effectively.