Abstract
Assessment of road surface condition is a crucial part of pavement management systems (PMS). A comprehensive assessment of the road surface condition in a metropolitan area will result in the efficient allocation of resources and a successful road surface maintenance plan. This process is usually undertaken either through manual inspection, which is highly demanding in terms of manpower, or it is outsourced to specialised companies that use highly sophisticated and expensive equipment. Usually large cities and municipalities can afford to outsource this task. However, small cities and municipalities cannot afford either the automated or the manual method due to their limited resources. The objective of this paper is to make a reasonable compromise between cost and accuracy by developing an economical system for making an initial assessment of the condition of road surfaces. The initial assessment will be automated to cover the jurisdiction of the municipality. Following the results of the initial assessment, decision-makers will then be able to identify the areas that will need further manual assessment. The results of the system will be tested and validated using manual inspection. The final product of the proposed integrated PMS will be a working prototype that can be mounted on a passenger car or light truck.