Comparative Modeling of Pavement Surface Texture Variables Using ANN and SPSS Software

Abstract

The health of Roadway pavement surface is considered as one of the major issues for safe driving. Pavement surface condition is usually referred to micro and macro textures which enhances the friction between the pavement surface and vehicular tires, while it provides a proper drainage for heavy rainfall water. Measurement of the surface texture is not yet standardized, and many different techniques are implemented by various road agencies around the world based on the availability of equipment’s, skilled technicians’ and funds. An attempt has been made in this investigation to model the surface macro texture measured from sand patch method (SPM), and the surface micro texture measured from out flow time (OFT) and British pendulum number (BPN) testing techniques. Flexible and rigid pavement surfaces have been investigated in this work. A total of 300 testing locations have been selected, and the three testing procedures were conducted for each location. The modeling was conducted by implementation of the statistical package (SPSS-19) and the artificial neural network package (ANN). Data were fed to the packages and the correlation of each testing method with the other two methods have been obtained through statistical analysis. It was concluded that (ANN) software is more reliable in providing the correlation between the testing techniques implemented as compared to (SPSS-19) software. Modeling could provide an instant determination of pavement surface health when the advanced testing techniques are scares.