Abstract

Serviceability is an indicator that represents the level of service a pavement provides to the users. This subjective opinion is closely related to objective aspects, which can be measured on the pavement's surface. This research aims specifically at relating serviceability results obtained by a 9-member evaluation panel, representing the general public as closely as possible, to parameters (particularly of roughness) measured with instruments on 30, 25, and 11 road sections of asphalt concrete, Portland cement concrete, and asphalt overlay, respectively. Results show that prediction of serviceability is quite accurate based on roughness evaluation, while also revealing that, by comparison to studies in more developed countries, Chileans are seemingly more tolerant, in that they assign a somewhat higher rating to ride quality. Furthermore, visible distress does not have a significant influence on serviceability values for Chilean users. A ratio between International Roughness Index (IRI) and Serviceability, as defined by AASHTO, was developed and may be used in this design method. Results for the final pavement condition of urban pavements were obtained (IRI-asphalt final = 5.9; IRI-concrete final = 8.1).