Field evaluation of a handheld laser meter for pavement surface macro texture measurement

In the past, pavement surface texture has primarily been measured using volumetric methods, with the sand patch test the most common. However, handheld laser-based devices are now available for measuring a surface profile depth, which is converted to an estimated surface texture. Comparative measurement of 21 different pavement surfaces, of six different types, indicated that the results were consistently less variable for the laser-based device, compared to the sand patch results. The standard (linear) conversion from laser meter profile depth to estimate texture depth was adequate for typical asphalt surfaces (surface texture 0.5–1.5 mm) but an alternate (quadratic) conversion was recommended for better agreement between the laser meter and sand patch results for surfaces with lower (<0.5 mm) and higher (1.5–3.0 mm) surface textures.