The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) is a numerical index between 0 and 100 and is used to indicate the condition of a roadway. It is widely used in transportation civil engineering

Civil engineering

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

. It is a statistical measure and requires manual survey of the pavement

Pavement (material)

Road surface or pavement is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past cobblestones and granite setts were extensively used, but these surfaces have mostly been replaced by asphalt or concrete. Such...

. PCI surveying processes and calculation methods have been standardized by ASTM for both roads and airport pavements:

• ASTM D6433 - 09: Standard Practice for Roads and Parking Lots Pavement Condition Index Surveys
• ASTM D5340 - 11: Standard Test Method for Airport Pavement Condition Index Surveys

PCI was developed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

, is based on a visual survey of the pavement and a numerical value between 0 and 100 defines the condition with 100 representing an excellent pavement. The process involves the following steps:

• Divide the total pavement section into sample units (approximately 5000 square feet).
• Based on the number of sample units in the total section, a certain number of these units are selected to be tested. For example if there are 40 or more sample units, 10% are tested.
• The type, extent and severity of pavement distress in each section are recorded using the ASTM Standard D 5340 method.
• The PCI of each tested sample unit is calculated using the method defined in the standard. In summary this involves calculating the distress quantities and the distress densities for each tested unit. These values are used to determine a deduct value and this deduct value is subtracted from 100 to give the PCI value.
• The PCI of the total section is then determined based on the sample values.

This condition index can give a good indication of the pavement condition of a network. However, trained personnel are required to complete the complicated survey procedure.