Chapter 7

Inventory Data Needs

TYPES OF INVENTORY DATA The 7.2 

There are several major classes of
inventory data to be considered in
pavement management, and they
would, for many agencies, include the
:following
Section reference and description •
Geometry Pavement structure
Costs •
Environment (weather) and •
drainage •
Traffic •
COLLECTING AND PROCESSING 7.3
INVENTORY DATA Once the data
clements for the inventory and the
pavement sections are defined,
the sampling plan put into place,
and the resources allocated, the
actual data can be collected or
assembled. Depending on the
sophistication of the agency, this
task can be relatively simple or
very time consuming. Generally,
most of the information required
for the inventory should be
located in the historical records of
the agency. If computer records
are available, assembling the data
base may be as simple as
reformatting the records into that
required for the pavement
management data base However,
agencies without a PMS may not
have computerized records. In
hard copy records and manual files
must be used for developing the
data base. Generally the
construction history begins with
the as-built plans. These can
provide data on the length and
width of the pavement project as
well as the materials, thicknesses,
and year of construction of each
layer. There are cases, es- pecially
in local agencies, where a
pavement structure may have
evolved over time without being
designed and without proper
construction records. In these
cases it may be necessary to rely
on the recollection of people who
have been with the agency for a
long time to get an estimate of the
construction history. In some
cases, the construction history will
not be available in any form. If that
Occurs, the pavements can be
cored or trenched to examine the
structure. Generally, it is not
necessary to have a separate
program of coring for establishing
the pavement construction
history. The data can be collected
as part of a structural evaluation,
or for other reasons. For example,
one agency worked with the utility
company to develop a form that
work crews can fill in whenever
they cut a trench across a
pavement. This form captures the
thickness and material type for
cach layer. Any data should be
collected and processed
systematically. Data collection
forms should be designed for
understandability, case of use, and
precise recording. If the data
assembly is being performed in the
office, the forms may be on a
computer screen and the clerk
assembling the data can enter
information directly into the com-
puter. If the data is being
assembled away from the office,
paper forms should be designed
that will allow direct computer
entry. Laptop or notebook
computers that can be carried into
the field also provide a viable
alternative for recording data and
eliminate the need to transcribe
the data in the office. The
inventory data forms the basis for
the pavement management
system. As- sembling this data can
be a time-consuming and costly
task, but it is essential and
worthwhile. this adki jo REVIEW
QUESTIONS I, What elements
should be included in a pavement
?inventory