Assessment of the Effect of Pavement Macrotexture on Interstate Crashes: Fid-Bau Portal

Assessment of the Effect of Pavement Macrotexture on Interstate Crashes

Pulugurtha, Srinivas S. / Kusam, Prasanna R. / Patel, Kuvleshay J.

Abstract

An assessment and comparison of the effect of pavement macrotexture on crashes along Interstate corridors with tinned concrete and asphalt pavement is presented in this manuscript. Data obtained for I-40 in Durham County, North Carolina, with tinned concrete pavement, and I-40 in Pender County, North Carolina, with asphalt pavement were used for evaluation. Laser profilometer data obtained from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) were processed to calculate pavement macrotexture at 100-m ( $\sim 330$ ft) sections according to the ASTM standards. Crash data for each section was integrated with the calculated pavement macrotexture. Generalized linear models (GLM) were developed by considering predictor variables such as million vehicle miles of travel, the number of interchanges, the number of bridges, the number of culverts, and the number of grade-separated interchanges along with pavement macrotexture. The negative coefficient obtained for pavement macrotexture indicates that the number of crashes decreases as pavement macrotexture increases. The statistical significance of pavement macrotexture on a logarithm of crashes, when compared with other predictor variables, was observed to be stronger along the study’s corridors. The effect of pavement macrotexture on crashes was also observed to vary by the pavement type. Results obtained indicate that maintaining pavement macrotexture greater than or equal to 2.032 mm (0.080 in.) on tinned concrete pavements, and greater than or equal to 1.016 mm (0.040 in.) on asphalt pavements, would reduce crashes and enhance safety through improved braking performance on Interstates.