Investigation of the Impact of Continuous International Roughness Index (IRI) Monitoring on Pavement Management Practice

Sauerwein, Peter M.; Smith, Brian L. · 2011 · ROSA P / Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center

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Summary

This paper investigates the feasibility of implementing a probe-vehicle-based system for continuous monitoring of pavement roughness, specifically utilizing the International Roughness Index (IRI). The research is motivated by the limitations of current pavement management practices in Virginia, where the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) relies on contractor-operated vehicles to collect data annually for primary roads and every five years for secondary roads. This infrequent collection creates significant lag times in data availability, hindering timely maintenance decisions and accurate deterioration tracking. With aging infrastructure and shrinking budgets, the authors propose leveraging the US Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) initiative to increase data frequency, expand coverage, and reduce costs. The study evaluates three potential system architectures for gathering roughness data using accelerometers and wireless communications. The first approach utilizes the connected vehicle program’s Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) technology, relying on Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) and standardized message sets like J2735. The second approach involves installing dedicated instrument packages with accelerometers and communication modules in agency-owned fleet vehicles. The third approach uses commercial mobile devices, such as smartphones, which contain integrated accelerometers and transmit data via commercial wireless services. The analysis considers technical feasibility, system requirements, installation integration, and cost for each alternative. The findings indicate that while all three systems are technically capable of gathering roughness data, the mobile device approach is the most appropriate solution. This method leverages existing smartphone hardware and commercial wireless networks, avoiding the high costs and infrastructure dependencies associated with dedicated ITS sensors or specialized fleet instrumentation. The paper notes that current VDOT data collection costs approximately $1.8 million annually, and probe-vehicle systems could lower these expenses by allowing more frequent, targeted assessments rather than blanket coverage. Additionally, the study highlights that while IRI is not directly used in VDOT’s Composite Condition Index for maintenance prioritization, it is required for federal reporting and contractor pay adjustments, making continuous monitoring valuable for situational awareness and trend identification. The significance of this research lies in its demonstration of how ITS technologies can be repurposed for non-safety applications, specifically asset management. By validating the use of smartphone-based probes, the paper provides a proof-of-concept for low-cost, high-frequency pavement monitoring. This approach addresses the critical need for up-to-date condition data to optimize maintenance scheduling and budget allocation. Furthermore, the study suggests that such systems could serve as a foundation for other data-gathering applications, such as monitoring weather impacts on vehicle dynamics, thereby maximizing the return on investment for federal ITS research initiatives.

Key finding

The smartphone-based mobile device approach is identified as the most appropriate system structure for gathering pavement roughness data using integrated accelerometers and commercial wireless services.

Methodology

theoretical

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

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