Application of wavelet transform analysis for pavement roughness studies

Abstract

Road roughness is normally characterized by a summary index that applies over a length of road. Summary index measures, however, do not retain the actual contents of pavement surface roughness. This paper presents a wavelet transform analysis procedure to offer supplementary information to the commonly used road indices. Its main contribution is to offer a systematic process for identifying, extracting, and reconstructing the multiscale features of road roughness profile through simultaneous time and frequency localization. It helps to identify and locate local roughness features in the pavement, and detect the trend of roughness deterioration.