Filling Out New Survey Form

1. The Pavement Condition Survey Form has been specifically designed to determine the amounts and severities of several distresses for flexible pavements, including bituminous overlays over portland cement concrete. There is no need to use separate sheets for the Primary, Secondary, and Urban Systems. The city codes as well as route numbers will tell the computer the type of system that each section represents.

2. Each rater should pay special attention to all instructions so that the condition survey form can be correctly and completely filled out. Missing or improperly marked data will be rejected by the computer and will require much time and effort in rechecking that section.

3. A completed sample is shown on page 16. Sixteen sections can be completed per sheet.

4. Fill in top of sheet providing DIVISION, COUNTY, DATE(S) and OBSERVER (your name).

5. The two-digit county number (plus two-digit city number where appropriate) should be filled in under CO/CITY CODE. The two-digit county number shall go in the first two spaces for all survey sections. The next two spaces are only filled in for urban sections by using the appropriate city number found on page . City numbers are arranged in alphabetical order by division except for new cities added to the computer system. For all sections outside of city limits, leave the second two spaces blank.

6. The route being surveyed shall be identified by writing the proper five-digit route code in the space labeled ROUTE. Refer to pages 1 & 2, item 2b under Section B for an explanation of the code.

7. DIVIDED DIRECTION is a letter code indicating the direction of travel for a divided section only. This code is necessary because each direction of travel for a divided section is rated separately. Put the letter, either (N) north, (S) south, (W) west and (E) east that represents the direction of travel for that lane. The opposite lane will naturally have the opposite direction of travel indicated. Leave this space blank for all undivided sections.

8. Under BEGIN MILE POST the beginning milepost shall be entered to the nearest 0.01 mile.

9. BEGIN DESCRIPTION is a brief description of the beginning point for the section. This should be at the intersection of a state road, a county line, a city limit, or a city street (in urban areas) if at all possible. In some cases there may not be a landmark to use because of pavement type or width changes. In these cases, write new pavement (NEW PVMT), end pavement (END PVMT), etc.

10. Under LENGTH, the total section length should be entered to the nearest 0.01 mile. The distances shown on the county map (as checked by the odometer) should be used to determine section lengths.

11. A brief description of the end point of the section should be written under END DESCRIPTION. This description will be in the same format as explained under item 9, BEGIN DESCRIPTION. Only 10 spaces are allowed for this description as well.

12. END MILE POST is th sum of the length and the BEGIN MILE POST. This value will be very helpful during the actual survey when the rater has to turn off a route and come back to this point again.

13. ADT is the latest estimate of the Average Daily Traffic for a particular survey section. This estimate can come from the computer printout, county ADT maps or specific knowledge about recent traffic counts on that section. If no ADT can be determined, leave these spaces blank.

14. FED AID SYS indicates whether a section is on the Primary (P), Secondary (S), or Urban (U) Federal Aid System. This information can be obtained from the computer printout or the county maps. Put only one letter (P,S or U) in the space provided. If the section is not on any Federal Aid System, mark (X) in this space.

15. PAVEMENT describes the travel way only,i.e. edgeline to edgeline.

16. TYPE indicates the type of pavement surface:
    • P (Plant mix),
    • B (Bituminous surface treatment),
    • or S (Slurry).

17. WIDTH is the surface width to the nearest whole foot.

    The No. Lanes is the number of through lanes (excluding parking) for that section. However, center lanes for left turns only on multilane undivided highways will count as one lane.

18. Under SHOULDERS, the rater should indicate the Type of shoulder, P (Paved) or U (Unpaved), and the average Width to the nearest whole foot. A paved shoulder shall be defined as continuous on both sides of the pavement and at least two feet wide. "Shoulders" outside the edgeline that are less than two feet wide shall be considered as part of the pavement width. Paved shoulders on a portion of the section shall not be considered as paved shoulders for the condition survey. Only the outside (right hand) shoulder is to be described for divided sections. Continuous paved shoulders must be at least 0.5 miles long to justify forming a new survey section.

19. For CURB & GUTTER sections mark (Y) Yes in the space provided. Mark (N) No if there is no curb and gutter or if there is curb and gutter on one side only. Curb and gutter sections must be continuous on both sides to be marked Yes and must be 0.5 miles long to justify forming a new section.

20. Under PAVEMENT DISTRESS CONDITIONS, the various distresses are to be noted.
    • For Items 1 and 2, fill in the percentage of cracking under each appropriate heading. The percentage shall be filled in to the nearest 10 percent by using 01, 02, 03 ... 10 to indicate 10, 20, 30 ... 100 percent. Thus for any section the sum of the numbers must equal 10.

    • For Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8, put the proper letter in the space provided to indicate none (N), light (L), moderate (M) or severe (S) distress.

    • For Item 7, put the proper letter in the space provided to indicate an average (L), slightly rough (M) or rough (S) condition present.

    • Please print legibly as N and M are sometimes difficult to distinguish if they are not clearly written.

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