Image Based Modeling Technique for Pavement Distress surveys: a Specific Application to Rutting

Image-based modeling (IBM) is a well-knowntechnique to obtain high quality 3D models based on multi viewimages. IBM started being used in several applications such asinspection, identification of objects and visualization, due to theuser-friendly approach, the low cost and highly automatedtechnique.This paper focuses on the investigation of the potentialapplication of IBM in the diagnosis of road pavement distressesand in particular rutting. Indeed, the evaluation of the ruttingdistress is a fundamental step to define the whole state of apavement as demonstrated by the calculation of PresentServiceability Index (PSI). Currently, the permanentdeformation is measured monitoring visually the rut depth withthe approximations that this procedure involves. Nevertheless,the exact measure of the rut depth is necessary to evaluateprecisely the cause and the severity of this distress and beeffective in the maintenance and rehabilitation of the pavementstructure.The objective of this study is to apply the IBM technique on alaboratory rutted sample, in order to verify the accuracy of themethod in determining the rut depth. To achieve this, acomparison has been made between the 3D model obtained withIBM and the one obtained with blue led 3D scan (Artec Spider)of the same rutted asphalt concrete. The metric accuracy of themodel is then defined and its validity is assessed, in terms ofdistress diagnosis.