This report from the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2), which is administered by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, documents the evaluation and demonstration of real-time smoothness measuring technologies on Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavements during construction. The research in this report will improve process control and allow for two technologies, the GOMACO Smoothness Indicator and the Ames Engineering Real Time Profiler, which were both tested in the field on actual paving projects in Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, and New York.

"TRB's second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Report S2-R06E-RR-1: Real-Time Smoothness Measurements on Portland Cement Concrete Pavements During Construction explores real-time smoothness measuring technologies for concrete paving. For the purposes of the report, real-time smoothness refers to measuring and evaluating the concrete pavement surface profile during construction along the paving train while the concrete surface is still wet. The report also includes draft suggested specifications and guidelines related to the use of technologies that allow paving crews to measure smoothness in real time. The results of Renewal Project R06E will be incorporated into an electronic repository for practitioners, known as the NDToolbox, which will provide information regarding recommended technologies for the detection of a particular deterioration. The NDToolbox is in the process of being created by SHRP 2 Renewal Project R06A, which has released SHRP 2 Report S2-R06A-RR-1: Nondestructive Testing to Identify Concrete Bridge Deck Deterioration that identifies nondestructive testing technologies for detecting and characterizing common forms of deterioration in concrete bridge decks. Renewal Project R06E, which produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06E-RR-1, is one of seven follow-on projects to SHRP Renewal Project R06 that produced SHRP 2 Report S2-R06-RW: A Plan for Developing High-Speed, Nondestructive Testing Procedures for Both Design Evaluation and Construction Inspection, which examines existing and emerging nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies and their current state of implementation to satisfy the NDE needs for highway renewal."--Publisher description.

Equipment to monitor Portland cement concrete pavement surface smoothness during construction is described. A noncontact pavement smoothness monitoring device, employing an acoustical sensing system, was constructed and tested in the laboratory and in field trials on a Florida paving project. A midchord offset technique is used to compute the pavement profile, eliminating the need for a fixed external reference. The device displays the pavement profile and calculates a roughness index based on the California profilograph system. The device is mounted on the chassis of a tube finisher, a standard paving train vehicle. The device's onboard computer takes readings from four independent measurement beams, each equipped with five acoustic sensors, to simultaneously monitor profile on four lines, presumably future vehicle wheelpaths, on the roadway.

At head of title: The Second Strategic Highway Research Program.