Standard Practice for
Quantifying Roughness
of Pavements
AASHTO Designation: R 43-13
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
444 North Capitol Street N.W., Suite 249
Washington, D.C. 20001
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.
Standard Practice for
Quantifying Roughness of Pavements
AASHTO Designation: R 43-13
1. SCOPE
1.1. This standard practice describes a method for estimating roughness for a pavement section. An
International Roughness Index (IRI) statistic is calculated from a single longitudinal profile
measured with a road profiler in both the inside and outside wheelpaths of the pavement. The
average of these two IRI statistics (Mean Roughness Index, MRI) is reported as the roughness of
the pavement section.
1.2. This standard practice recognizes the need for a quality assurance (QA) plan and proposes
guidelines for the development of a QA plan.
1.3. Measurements of profile are made in accordance with ASTM E 950. If any part of this standard
practice is in conflict with its referenced documents, such as ASTM standards or other AASHTO
standards, this standard practice takes precedence for its purpose.
1.4. This standard practice does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated
with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard practice to establish appropriate
safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations related to and
prior to its use.
2. REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
2.1. AASHTO Standard:
R 56, Certification of Inertial Profiling Systems
2.2. ASTM Standards:
E 867, Standard Terminology Relating to Vehicle-Pavement Systems
E 950, Standard Test Method for Measuring the Longitudinal Profile of Traveled Surfaces
with an Accelerometer Established Inertial Profiling Reference
E 1166, Standard Guide for Network Level Pavement Management
E 1926, Standard Practice for Computing International Roughness Index of Roads from
Longitudinal Profile Measurements
E 2560, Standard Specification for Data Format for Pavement Profile
2.3. Other Document:
Sayers, M. W. “On the Calculation of IRI from Longitudinal Road Profile.” Transportation
Research Record 1501, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D C, 1995.
TS-5a R 43-1 AASHTO
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.
3. TERMINOLOGY
3.1. Definitions:
3.1.1. roughness—according to ASTM E 867, the deviation of a surface from a true planar surface with
characteristic dimensions that affect vehicle dynamics and ride quality. In this standard practice,
the term “roughness” is the average of two IRI statistics (MRI) calculated from longitudinal
profile measurements, one in each pavement wheelpath.
3.1.2. longitudinal profile—a two-dimensional slice of the roadway surface taken along the travel
direction, such as along the wheelpath. It represents the perpendicular deviations of the pavement
surface from an established reference plane parallel to the horizontal.
3.1.3. International Roughness Index (IRI)—a statistic used to estimate the amount of roughness in a
measured longitudinal profile. The IRI is computed from a single longitudinal profile using a
quarter-car simulation (Sayers 1995). A computer program to calculate the IRI statistic from a
longitudinal profile is included in ASTM E 1926.
4. SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
4.1. This standard practice outlines standard procedures for measuring longitudinal profile and
calculating the IRI for highway pavement surfaces to help produce consistent estimations of IRI
for network-level pavement management.
5. QUALITY ASSURANCE
5.1. Agencies using this standard practice are required to develop a satisfactory quality assurance (QA)
plan. At a minimum, the plan shall include the requirements listed in the following sections:
5.1.1. Qualification and training records of individuals conducting the survey;
5.1.2. Accuracy, repeatability, and calibration records of equipment used in the survey; and
5.1.3. Periodic and ongoing quality control program and the content of the program.
Note 1—The estimate of roughness of pavements can be used both at network- and project-level
pavement management. Guidelines for network level are included in ASTM E 1166, which can be
used as a source for the development of a QA plan.
Note 2—The guidelines that can be used for the development of a quality assurance plan are
given in Appendix X2.
6. DATA COLLECTION
6.1. Agencies using this standard practice are expected to designate the lane(s) and direction(s) of
travel to be surveyed based on sound engineering principles and management needs within the
agency.
6.2. Locate (place) the two height sensors, separated approximately 65 to 71 in. in the wheelpaths. The
longitudinal profile points used for calculating the IRI shall have a longitudinal spacing not greater
than 2 in. Long-wavelength filters are used to remove all wavelengths exceeding 300 ft.
TS-5a R 43-2 AASHTO
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.
Note 3—The use of anti-aliasing filters and averaging to remove small wavelength content that
do not affect the IRI from the profile is left to the discretion of the agency and equipment
manufacturers.
Note 4—For agencies considering procuring a profiler that will be used for additional
applications, it is suggested that the longitudinal spacing of profile points be not greater than 1 in.
7. CALCULATIONS
7.1. Calculate IRI values for each 0.1 mile for both wheelpaths. Compute an average of the two IRI
values (MRI) to determine roughness.
Note 5—The tenth-of-a-mile values are needed to calculate average values for each data
collection section.
8. REPORT
8.1. Report the following information:
8.1.1. Roughness calculated in Section 7.1 to the nearest inch per mile; and
8.1.2. Length of the data summary interval, typically 0.1 mile.
8.2. Report the following minimum data recorded and stored for each section:
8.2.1. Section Identification—List all available information necessary to locate the section using
agency’s current referencing system;
8.2.2. IRI for each of the two wheelpaths for the section, in./mile;
8.2.3. Average of both IRIs (MRI) calculated for the section, in./mile;
8.2.4. Date of data collection, month/day/year;
8.2.5. Length of section in miles for which the data are collected;
8.2.6. Profile data recording interval, in.;
8.2.7. Long wavelength filter setting, ft; and
8.2.8. Optional—Pavement surface temperature.
9. KEYWORDS
9.1. Inertial profiler; International Roughness Index; longitudinal pavement profile; pavement;
pavement ride quality; pavement smoothness; roughness.
10. REFERENCES
10.1. AASHTO Standards:
M 328, Inertial Profiler
R 57, Operating Inertial Profiling Systems
TS-5a R 43-3 AASHTO
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.
10.2. Other Document:
Sayers, M. W., T. D. Gillespie, and W. D. O. Paterson. “Guidelines for Conducting and
Calibrating Road Roughness Measurements.” The World Bank Technical Paper, Number 46.
The World Bank, 1986.
APPENDIXES
(Nonmandatory Information)
X1. CALCULATION OF IRI FROM PROFILE
X1.1. The computer code for a Fortran program that calculates IRI is included in ASTM E 1926.
X1.2. The Profile Viewer and Analysis (ProVAL) software is an application for viewing and analyzing
pavement profiles, which was developed under the auspices of the Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA). This software is available free of charge at [Link]
X1.2.1. This software includes a routine for calculating IRI. Native data files containing profile data
collected by several equipment manufacturers can be directly imported into ProVAL. In addition,
data files conforming to the following formats can be imported into ProVAL: (1) ERD format,
which is a file format developed by the Engineering Research Division of the University of
Michigan Transportation Research Institute, (2) Pavement Profile Standard Data File format,
which is described in ASTM Standard E 2560.
X2. GUIDELINES—QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN
X2.1. Quality Assurance (QA) Plan—Each agency shall develop a QA plan. The plan shall include
survey personnel certification training records, accuracy and repeatability of equipment, daily
quality control (QC) procedures, and periodic and ongoing QC activities. The following guidelines
can be used for developing such a plan.
X2.2. Certification and Training—Agencies are individually responsible for training and/or certifying
their data collection personnel and contractors for proficiency in using the profile measuring
equipment according to this standard practice and other applicable agency procedures. The
agencies should also implement a certification program to certify profilers at least annually to
ensure repeatability and accuracy of the equipment. AASHTO Standard R 56 describes procedures
for the certification of profilers.
X2.3. Equipment Calibration—Equipment calibration (accelerometers, noncontact sensors, and distance
measuring instrument) is done in accordance with specific manufacturer recommendations. The
equipment must operate within the manufacturer’s specifications. A regular maintenance and
testing program is established for the equipment in accordance with the manufacturer’s
recommendations.
X2.4. Verifications Sections—Verifications sections are selected with known IRI statistics for both
wheelpaths. These sections are measured by equipment operators on a regular basis. Evaluations
of these measurements can provide information about the accuracy of field measurements and give
insight into needed equipment calibration. Verification sections are rotated on a regular basis in
order to assure that the operators are not repeating previously known IRI statistics during the
verification. An alternate to verification sections is to remeasure and compare up to 5 percent of
the data as a daily or weekly quality check to ensure system stability and repeatability.
TS-5a R 43-4 AASHTO
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.
X2.5. Quality Checks—Additional quality checks can be made by comparing the most recent IRI
statistics with current measurements. At locations where large changes occur, the pavement
manager may require additional checks of the data.
TS-5a R 43-5 AASHTO
© 2014 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
All rights reserved. Duplication is a violation of applicable law.