Condition indices for rigid pavements: A comparative analysis of state DOTs using Michigan PMS data

Pavement infrastructure is vital in providing services and links between various sectors of society. Therefore, the preservation and maintenance of these roads are critical to attaining a pavement network in good condition throughout its service life. Various performance indicators like the international roughness index (IRI), pavement condition index (PCI), and present serviceability rating (PSR) have been used by the state department of transportation (DOT) and highway agencies for evaluating pavement surface conditions and planning future maintenance strategies. Limited data availability, multiple distresses depending on region, lack of correlation of these condition indices to maintenance strategies, and data collection limitations pose a challenge for applying these indices to local conditions. This paper compares condition indices of different states for rigid pavements. Further, using a specific condition index for local conditions is also highlighted. For this purpose, five states and their corresponding condition indices were evaluated and compared to the Michigan DOT distress index (DI). These states include Virginia, Minnesota, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Oregon. The corresponding distresses of each condition index were converted to make them compatible with the MDOT DI. This study used the MDOT's pavement management system (PMS) database to evaluate each condition index for 433 rigid pavement sections. Each distress index was plotted against MDOT DI and compared using a paired t-test. Results show that the condition indices of Virginia and Minnesota are comparable to DI in terms of the Spearman correlation value. The t-test results show that except for Virgina, condition indices from other states statistically differ from DI. Therefore, one can't use those directly for local conditions in Michigan. This paper presents the evaluation and data requirements for each condition index and its impact on selecting a maintenance treatment.