Measuring rutting dimension and lateral position using 3D line scanning laser and inertial measuring unit

Abstract Pavement rutting caused by repeated traffic loads is a common type of structural damage to pavement. Rutting dimensions and lateral position are strongly related to traffic safety and ride comfort. However, in the field, rutting depth is usually measured by traditional methods, and rutting lateral position is ignored due to the limitations of data sources and algorithms. This study provides an automatic method for rutting dimension and lateral position measurement using a 3D line scanning laser system and Inertial Measuring Unit (IMU). Rutting dimensions (e.g., width, depth, depression area, wall slope and spacing between the inner and outer rutting) and locations (e.g., lateral position and rutting deviation away from lane center line) are measured by fusing multivariate data (e.g., 2D pavement images, transverse profiles and IMU data). In this study, two straight road sections located in Fuzhou, China, are chosen to validate the reliability and robustness of the proposed algorithm. Findings indicate that the measurement results from the new algorithm are highly correlated with the ground truths manually collected in the field. This study would benefit transportation agencies in traffic safety analysis, ride comfort evaluation and structural damage prediction based on the continuous pavement rutting dimension and its lateral positions.