Pavement distress factors

Several factors are taken into consideration when rating the pavement condition:

• Pavement patching estimate: The estimate amount of patching the pavement needs.
• Bleeding - When excessive asphalt cement rises to the surface creating a shiny, glasslike, reflecting surface that usually becomes quite sticky.
• Raveling – The wearing away of the pavement surface caused by the loss of asphalt or tar binder and dislodged aggregate particles.
• Polishing - When the surface of the roadway becomes smooth to the touch, creating low skid resistance.
• Scaling – The breakdown of a slab surface to a depth of ¼ to ½ in.
• Popouts – A small piece of pavement that freeze-thaw action combined with aggregate expansion causes to break loose from the surface (these are much smaller than potholes).
• Pot holes - Bowl-shaped depressions in the pavement surface.
• Shoving - Permanent, longitudinal displacement of a localized area of the pavement surface.
• Faulting – A difference in elevation across a joint.
• Rutting - When there are pronounced impressions in the pavement along the wheel paths.
• Cracking – Cracking can take on several forms, such as fatigue cracking, longitudinal cracking, block cracking, corner cracking, D cracking, and transverse cracking.
• Overall riding comfort of the street
• Drainage problems - such as ponding.

Items that do not affect the pavement rating, but may be taken into consideration are:

Curb and Gutter condition and replacement estimate: The overall condition of the curbs, along with the estimated amount of curbing that needs to be replaced. Taken into consideration are settling, cracking, erosion and deterioration.

Driveway replacement estimate: The number of driveway approaches (the portion of the driveway within the right-of-way) that need to be replaced. Taken into consideration are driveway fillets (filling the gutter of the curb with asphalt or concrete), cracking, and overall deterioration of the driveway material.