Examine the Underlying Causes of Flexible Pavement Deteriorations, Methods of Maintenance and Pavement Condition Rating

In India, the deterioration of asphalt pavement is a major issue in the road and highway sectors. It may occur due to a variety of factors such as premature aging, improper mix design, inadequate construction, and material quality, the improper structure design of pavement considering traffic, and a lack of preventive maintenance, among others. There are many types of distress in asphalt pavements known as disintegration (raveling, and potholes), fracture (spalling and cracking), and distortion (slippage deformation of permanent). This research aims to perform a physical survey for distress analysis and pavement condition rating using the IRC method. As a case study, four urban flexible pavement roads in the Pimpri Chinchwad Pune area were chosen. The roads are visually inspected to measure the severity to detect the types and extent of the distresses. Based on the severity of the distresses, the IRC method assigns a grade of 0 to 1.0 for poor condition roads, 1.1 to 2.0 for fair condition roads, and 2.1 to 3.0 for good condition roads. As per the pavement condition rating, two of the four urban roads were found to be in fair condition, while the other two were in poor condition. The cost-effective treatments were recommended from a variety of treatments such as slurry seal, fog seal, crack seal, micro-surfacing, thin cold or hot mix bituminous overlays, and surface dressing.