Hi-SPEQ - developing the technical and quality requirements for high-speed condition surveys of road networks

High speed surveys have become a key source of information to support condition assessment and management of pavement assets. These surveys can be applied network wide to obtain data on the surface condition and structural robustness of the pavement. The success of high speed surveys is demonstrated by the growth in the survey industry and the wide range of measurement equipment that has become available. However, these advances bring challenges to road administrations in determining the most appropriate survey to specify for their networks, in selecting the equipment, and in ensuring that the condition parameters delivered will be suitable to support asset management decisions. Although standards have been developed for some of the measurements provided by high speed systems, the focus tends to be highly technical, often not considering the wide ranging needs of routine network level implementation. The HiSPEQ project has the objective of developing guidance and advice to help road administrations to understand high speed road survey equipment, and to help them in specifying the survey requirements, quality regimes and processing procedures. The project has considered high speed survey data that can be used to assess pavement structural robustness. It has investigated the measurement of pavement shape, visual condition, deflection and structure. Via review of current specifications both within and outside the EU, and direct consultation with practitioners and administrations, the project has proposed a set of core requirements for high-speed surveys of pavement surface and structural condition. These requirements have been used to propose survey specification templates that road administrations could use when developing survey requirements for their own networks. Guidance has been developed to accompany the specifications, to assist road administrations understand the requirements and the implications of different levels of resolution and accuracy on the use of the data. The project has also proposed a set of quality assurance processes to consider when specifying condition surveys.