Sustainability of Road Roughness Measurements in Countries with Low Income Economies
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Botswana Polytechnic
Abstract
Description
Full text can be accessed at
http://www.ajol.info/index.php/bjt/article/view/15397
A research project was carried out to establish a sustainable procedure for road roughness measurement applicable in developing countries. Out of many devices in use today, a vehicle mounted bump integrator (VMBI) was selected for the reasons that: a) the equipment is available in most developing countries and it has been in use for sometime; b) the rate and accuracy of measurement is adequate; and c) it is easy to use. However, it was found that it is very difficult, time consuming and hence not sustainable to use a bump integrator for very rough unpaved roads. Consequently, a procedure which relates travel tim e (at comfortable travel speed) and road surface roughness was established. The results show that, if this procedure is properly followed, the roughness obtained are in a very close agreement with those obtained from using the bump integrator.
A research project was carried out to establish a sustainable procedure for road roughness measurement applicable in developing countries. Out of many devices in use today, a vehicle mounted bump integrator (VMBI) was selected for the reasons that: a) the equipment is available in most developing countries and it has been in use for sometime; b) the rate and accuracy of measurement is adequate; and c) it is easy to use. However, it was found that it is very difficult, time consuming and hence not sustainable to use a bump integrator for very rough unpaved roads. Consequently, a procedure which relates travel tim e (at comfortable travel speed) and road surface roughness was established. The results show that, if this procedure is properly followed, the roughness obtained are in a very close agreement with those obtained from using the bump integrator.
Keywords
Sustainability, Road roughness, Developing countries, Bump integrator, Ride quality