General Guidelines

1. Pavement sections should be adjusted such that the same general characteristics exist throughout. Significant changes that, if changed, would require a new section include 1) number of lanes (where the width also changes), 2) paved shoulder, 3) curb and gutter, 4) recent resurfacing, 5) pavement type, 6) pavement width, and 7) change in pavement conditions.

2. Section lengths, in general, should not be greater than 2 miles for Primary and Secondary roads in rural areas. In urban areas (which include all routes on the state system within incorporated city limits section lengths may vary from 0.1 to 2.0 miles, depending on how often the rater must break the route because of changes in characteristics.

3. Sections with bituminous concrete surfaces or overlays over either PCC or existing bituminous shall be considered as plant mix (P) sections. Bituminous surface treatment (B) sections shall include all the various seals (straight, split, drag, mat), and mat and seals. Slurry (S) seals shall include slurry seal and micro- surface pavements.

4. Where it is obvious that part of a route has received an in-kind new plant mix resurfacing, bituminous treatment, or slurry seal, a new section will be formed for this new surface. However, the newly treated section must be at least 0.50 miles long for a new section to be formed. If the newly treated section is longer than 2 miles, then the rater should break this into two or more shorter sections of less than 2 miles in length. Even though the condition of the pavement will not show any change now, there may be distress conditions in the future that can be better monitored with the shorter survey sections.

5. In many instances a plant mix road may have a short seal or a BST road may have a short plant mix overlay on a portion of the road. If this unlike treatment situation is greater than 0.50 miles long, a new section shall be written up. Unlike treatments less than 0.50 miles long shall be considered as patching.

6. For multilane highways, see Special Instructions for Divided Highways.

7. For multilane undivided and one-way sections, see Special Instructions for Urban Areas.

8. The rater should be able to detect distresses while traveling at 15 to 30 mph. In no situation should 30 mph be exceeded. If necessary, the rater should stop to inspect the pavement for signs of distress if the rater is not sure of the type of cracking present.

9. Sunlight, time of day, and wetness of road affect the rater's ability to see distress conditions. It is recommended that the rater travel in a direction that allows the distresses to be more apparent for the rater. It is possible that two passes will be required for some sections.

10. Where county lines are used in either description, abbreviate county with Co. The county shall be the one that the route is either coming from or going to, not the county that the section is located in.

11. When the beginning or ending point for a section is a city limit, the rater shall indicate this by the city name and whether or not it is at the eastern, western, northern, or southern city limit. For example, WCL = Western City Limit of Asheville.

12. Existing BST or plant mix patches are not specifically evaluated on their quality. However, some patches may affect ride quality and should be evaluated in this manner. Although, any cracking or rutting that is visible in a patch should be marked under the appropriate distress.

13. A pavement is considered to have a paved shoulder when the width of the paved shoulder section is 2 feet or greater.

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