PAVEMENT CONDITION INDEX

METHOD
compiled by Basil David Daniel

Main Reference:
M.Y. Shahin, Pavement Management for Airports, Roads and Parking Lots, Springer, New York, 2005
Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Method

Background

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) method is used to obtain a Pavement Condition Index
(PCI) value for pavements through a visual survey of the pavement. The Pavement Condition
Index (PCI) is a numerical rating of the pavement condition that ranges from 0 to 100 (refer
to Figure 1), with 0 being the worst possible condition and 100 being the best possible
condition. The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) method was developed by the Construction
Engineering Research Laboratory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This method can be
used on both asphalt surfaced as well as jointed portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements.

Figure 1: Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Rating Scale and the corresponding Level of
Service and Maintenance Activity

Performing a Pavement Condition Survey on Asphalt Surfaced Pavements

Equipment: Inspectors need a hand odometer or measuring tape to measure distress lengths
and areas, a straight edge, a ruler to measure the depth of ruts or depressions, and the PCI
distress manual (to assist in identifying distresses and determining their severity levels).

Procedure: A sample unit is inspected by measuring the distress type and severity according
to the PCI distress manual, and recording the data on the flexible pavement survey sheet (as
shown in Figure 2). One data sheet is used for each sample unit.
Figure 2: Pavement Condition Survey Sheet
Dividing a Pavement Section Into Sample Units

A sample unit is defined as the portion of pavement section designated only for the purpose
of pavement inspection. Figure 3 shows an example of sample units.

Pavement Section 6.5 m x 780 m

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

100 m 100 m 100 m 100 m 100 m 100 m 100 m 80 m

Figure 3: Example of a pavement section divided into sample units

The number of sample units in a pavement section to be inspected can be determined using
Figure 4. When performing initial inspection, the PCI standard deviation for asphalt concrete
is assumed to be 10.

Figure 4: Selection of the minimum number of sample units

It is recommended that the sample units to be inspected be spaced equally throughout the
section, and that the first one be chosen at random (this technique is known as ‘systematic
random’). Sampling interval is determined using the following equation:

Interval, i N
where N = total number of sample units in section
=
n
n = minimum number of sample units to be inspected

The sampling interval is rounded off to the smaller whole number (e.g. 3.6 is rounded to 3).

Example:

If N = 20,

n = 9 (determined from Figure 4)

Interval, i = 20/9 = 2.2  2.0

Hence sample units to be inspected are 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 and 17 (as indicated in Figure
5).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Figure 5: Sampling interval

Example

The table below shows a pavement condition survey for sample unit 07, section JPB-KM2 of
Jalan Parit Botak. Determine the Pavement Condition Index for this sample unit.

JALAN PARIT BOTAK (ASPHALT SURFACED ROAD)

CONDITION SURVEY DATA SHEET

BRANCH: TRAFFIC LABORATORY UTHM DATE: 25 AUGUST 2007

SURVEYED BY: BDD SAMPLE UNIT: 07
SECTION: JPB-KM2 SAMPLE AREA: 6 m x 100 m
01. Alligator Cracking (m2) 06. Depression (m2) 11. Patching & Utility 16. Shoving (m2)
02. Bleeding (m2) 07. Edge Cracking (m) Cut Patching ((m2) 17. Slippage Cracking
03. Block Cracking (m2) 08. Joint Reflection 12. Polished (m2)
04. Bumps and Sags (m) Cracking (m) Aggregate (m2) 18. Swell (m2)
05. Corrugation (m )
2
09. Lane/Shoulder Drop 13. Potholes (no.) 19. Weathering/
Off (m) 14. Railroad Crossing Ravelling (m2)
10. Longitudinal & (m2)
Transverse Cracking 15. Rutting (m2)
(m)
DISTRESS DENSITY DEDUCT
SURVEY QUANTITY TOTAL % VALUE

7.8 4.1
03 M
2.5 4.2 1.8
01 L
6.3
01 H
3.1 0.4
11 M
0.5 0.8
13 M
0.8 1.2 0.3 0.5
10 L
0.7 1.1 0.4
10 M
Solution:

(1) Determine the Distress Density and Deduct Value

DISTRESS DENSITY DEDUCT

SURVEY QUANTITY TOTAL % VALUE
100*(11.9/600)
7.8 4.1 11.9 6
03 M = 1.98
100*(8.5/600)
2.5 4.2 1.8 8.5 13
01 L = 1.42
100*(6.3/600)
6.3 6.3 32
01 H = 1.05
100*(3.5/600)
3.1 0.4 3.5 7
11 M = 0.58
100*(1.3/600)
0.5 0.8 1.3 50
13 M = 0.22
100*(2.8/100)
0.8 1.2 0.3 0.5 2.8 2
10 L = 2.80
100*(2.2/100)
0.7 1.1 0.4 2.2 6
10 M = 2.20

(2) Maximum allowable number of deducts, m

Highest deduct value, HDV = 50

m = 1 + (9/98)(100 – HDV)
= 1 + (9/98)(100 – 50)
= 5.6

Deduct values in descending order: 50, 32, 13, 7, 6, 6, 2

Number of deduct values = 7

Since the maximum allowable number of deducts is 5.6, therefore only the first 5 and 0.6 of
the 6th deduct value are selected, i.e. 50, 32, 13, 7, 6, and 0.6*6 = 3.6.

(3) Maximum corrected deduct value, CDV

Number of deduct values greater than 2, q = 6

Total deduct value = 50 + 32 + 13 + 7 + 6 + 3.6 = 111.6

From Figure B-45, CDV = 58

Reduce the smallest individual deduct value to 2 (q is now 5) and determine the CDV.

Repeat until q reaches 1.

 No. Deduct Values Total q CDV
50 32 13 7 6 3.6 111.6 6 58
1

2 50 32 13 7 6 2 110 5 58

3 50 32 13 7 2 2 106 4 61

4 50 32 13 2 2 2 101 3 65

5 50 32 2 2 2 2 90 2 63

6 50 2 2 2 2 2 60 1 60

10

Maximum CDV = 65

(4) Determine the Pavement Condition Index

PCI = 100 – CDVmax

= 100 – 65
= 35

Based on the rating for PCI value of 35, this section of pavement is in very poor condition.
 APPENDIX

Asphalt Concrete Roads: Deduct Value and

Corrected Deduct Value Curves