Pavement Condition Index (PCI)

The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) method has long been considered a “gold standard” in comprehensive pavement evaluation. However being developed at a time when walking inspections were the norm, many of the distress items in the standard rely on subjective evaluation which brings with it low repeatability. The PCI method divides the surveyed area into sample units for which the severity and density of distress are evaluated. The values are then used to determine a deduct value in the calculation of the index rating. Per ASTM D6433-20 standard, PCI calculation provides a numerical rating scale of 0-100, 0 being the worst possible condition and 100 being the best condition.

Pavemetrics’ new PCI algorithm improves upon the manual method by evaluating distress automatically using a combination of 2D and 3D images as well as road profile (IRI). Using this new feature, detailed distress data, corresponding Deduct Values, and overall PCI Value can be reported for each road section.