Institute for Transportation

About the research

Iowa’s secondary roads provide critical access for rural farming, housing, livestock production, and recreation. As such, their continual maintenance and reconstruction are essential to Iowa county engineers. However, counties often face challenges in estimating future pavement performance and predicting remaining service life (RSL), which indicates how long a pavement will remain serviceable before requiring maintenance, preservation, or rehabilitation. Additionally, the high cost of routine pavement performance data collection highlights the need for a low-cost, nonproprietary system for local public agencies, including Iowa counties. To address these challenges, researchers at Iowa State University, in partnership with the Iowa County Engineers Association Service Bureau, have developed two tools under projects sponsored by the Iowa Highway Research Board: (1) the Iowa Pavement Analysis Techniques or “IPAT” tool (for forecasting pavement performance and RSL), and (2) CyRoads (a prototype smartphone application) and Smart Box (a low-cost nonproprietary tool) for collecting and analyzing pavement roughness data and reporting International Roughness Index (IRI). This proposed follow-up (Phase II) study aims to guide the full implementation of these tools in Iowa county pavement asset management practices. The primary objectives are to conduct a pilot study demonstrating the use of the IPAT tool within actual county workflows and develop use cases for its full implementation. The study will also evaluate and update CyRoads and Smart Box, collect IRI data over at least three consecutive years in two pilot counties, and establish an integrated database via an automated or semi-automated data processing tool. Additionally, the research will focus on enhancing IRI prediction models by incorporating maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation events. The upgraded IPAT tool will include enhanced functional capabilities, which will empower engineers to make well-informed decisions regarding the maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation of pavement assets under their supervision.