SECTION 413 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE 400-47 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE
413.01 Description.
This specification addresses pavement rideability as determined by the Engineer according to the rating scale, based upon post-paving rideability determination. Standard roads are roadways with posted speed limits above 30 mph. For roads with speed limits that vary based on time of day (e.g., school zones) , the higher speed limit appl ies to this specification. Any reclaimed road will be evaluated as a standard road at the pay adjustment rates for 10 mph greater than its posted speed limit . Low-speed roads are roads with a posted speed limit of 30 mph or below. A travel lane is the primary traveled portion of the roadway excluding non- normally traveled pavement surfaces. Leave-out sections include: • Roundabouts and bridge decks • Areas 25 ft before and after pavement segments with catch basins in the travel lane and 15 ft before and after pavement segments with manholes or other structures in the travel lane • Areas 25 ft before and after bridge joints • Areas 25 ft after and before the Project paving limits all as determined by the Engineer. Additional areas may be excluded from testing in the interest of obtaining data safely. The Official Department Test will be conducted by the Department after the completion of paving and the final lane configurations have been established.
413.02 Materials.
N/A
413.03 Construction Methods.
Pavement rideability, or ride quality, will be determined by the Engineer using a profiler on all travel lanes. The profiler will meet all equipment requirements of AASHTO M 328 and R 56. Rideability for Standard Roads. The surface course ride quality acceptance will be based on a) the average International Roughness Index (IRI) from three tests using a profiler established for each wheel path for 528-ft (0.1 mile) standard fixed intervals, and b) a simulated 10-ft rolling straightedge (RSE) analysis for the width of each travel lane from one representative test. The testing will be conducted by the Engineer. The selected tests will be chosen based on the data correlation between tests, profile
Part 400 — Asphalt Pavements August 2025
400-48 SECTION 413 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE lengths, and any factors noted during data collection or evidenced upon review to better qualify or disqualify a test. The representative tests will be selected at the Engineer’s discretion. An IRI number in inches per mile will be established following Department procedures using ProVAL or software supplied by the manufacturer of the profiler for each 528 -ft (0.1-mile) longitudinal section for each wheel path in each travel lane. A 300-ft long-wavelength (high-pass) filter will be applied during testing. A 250mm short -wavelength (moving average) filter will be applied during analysis using ProVAL or other aforementioned profiling software. A sublot will be each single wheelpath for each 0.1- mile section of each travel lane. Therefore, each 0.1-mile section of travel lane will consist of two sublots. A standard lot is defined as 20 consecutive sublots. If a road segment has less than 20 bu t more than six consecutive sublots for each wheelpath, a lot will be comprised of all sublots from one wheelpath. If a road segment has six or fewer consecutive sublots for each wheelpath, a lot will be comprised of all sublots from the road segment. If the final lots include 10 or more sublots for each wheelpath, they will be considered their own lots. If the final lots are fewer than 10 sublots, they will be added to the preceding or adjacent lots. Lots may be combined with adjacent lots in the following order of preference ― with previous lot of the same wheelpath in the same lane, with opposite wheelpath of the same lane, with both wheelpaths of adjacent lane in the same direction or similar lane in the opposite direction within the same road segment, or as determined by the Engineer. If the Project paving limits for one roadway segment including all lanes consist of fewer than 0.46 lane- miles, the roadway segment paved will be considered a pavement patch (Subsection 413.03.2). Leave-out sections are excluded from rideability analysis for pay adjustments. All areas included in the paving limits (including leave- out sections) will be tested using a 10- ft rolling straightedge simulation analysis using ProVAL or other profiling software. The variation of the surface between any two contacts along the simulated straightedge shall not be more than
0.30 in., except for manholes, catch basins, and other structures in the travel lane, which shall
not deviate from the surface by more than 0.30 in. below final grade or 0.10 in. above final grade of pavement as tested using a 10 -ft rolling straightedge simulation. Humps, depressions, and utility structures (as adjusted or remaining) exceeding the specified tolerances shall be subject to correction. Sections before leave-out sections and the section at the end of the paving limit will be added to the previous sublot or subsequent section(s) if they are less than 0.05 miles or may be considered a full sublot if they are greater than or equal to 0.05 mi les. For roadways with numerous utility structures, with successive sections before or between leave- out sections, or at the end of the paving limit that are less than or near to 0.05 miles, the sections will be combined to best approximate 0.10 miles for each sublot. No sublot will exceed 0.15 miles. Quality Control (QC) for Rideability For any Contract with an initial Contract Quantity of 3000 tons or more of total surface course HMA (friction course, dense-graded HMA or PPEST), obtain the services of a qualified vendor to test the Rideability (ride quality as determined from longitudinal surface profiles, in IRI and 10 -ft rolling straightedge surface deviations) of the riding surface of each traveled lane of micromilled pavement or surface course with a Class 1 Inertial Profiling System. Test at least one- half the total quantity of travel lanes for the micromilled surface and surface course. Report results to the
Part 400 — Asphalt Pavements August 2025
SECTION 413 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE 400-49 Engineer within 36 hours of testing. If at any time Rideability QC test results indicate that routine placement of the remaining HMA course(s) may produce an unacceptable riding surface of the surface course (result in a negative Rideability Pay Adjustment), submit a Corrective Work Plan to the Engineer. The Engineer’s receipt of the QC test results and/or corrective action plan does not in any way relieve the Contractor from full responsibility for monitoring and controlling the quality of the work to meet Acceptance criteria. Quality Control for Rideability will not apply to roads where only RSE is required. Rideability for Low-Speed Roads and Pavement Patches. The Department will measure from 10 ft before to 10 ft after the paving limits of low-speed roads or permanent pavement patches in the lane and test this road segment using a 10- ft rolling straightedge simulation analysis in ProVAL or other profiling softw are. If the variation of the surface between any two contacts along the simulated straightedge exceeds 0.30 in. at any distance from 2 ft before to 2 ft after the paving limits or pavement patch, perform corrective action. In addition, the -0.30-in. to +0.10 in. surface deviation tolerances noted in Subsection 413.03.1 will apply for any manholes or other structures in the lane that are within the paving limits of the low-speed road or pavement patch. Ensure that permanent pavement patches and structures, including any corrective work, continue to comply with the tolerances described above for the longer of one year after installation or one year after completion of any required corrective work , or additional corrective work will be required. Rideability for Bridges. The Department will measure the entire length of each bridge section using a 10- ft rolling straightedge simulation analysis in ProVAL or other profiling software. The bridge section a) starts 10 ft before the initial bridge pavement cut and match or 25 ft before the initial bridge joint, whichever is farther, and b) stops 10 ft beyond the terminal bridge pavement cut and match or 25 ft beyond the terminal bridge joint, whichever is farther. The bridge section includes the approach pavement, entry approach slab, bridge deck, exit approach slab, and exit pavement. If only the bridge deck is paved (no approaches), the section of new pavement will be considered a pavement patch. Perform corrective work when the variation of the surface between any two contacts along the simulated straightedge exceeds 0.30 in. in any profile within the full width of a marked traffic lane along the measured length of the bridge section. Any costs associated with structural review of added loads to the bridge will be tracked by the Department and reimbursed by the Contractor as a disincentive using a Report of Change. CORRECTIVE ACTION When corrections to the pavement surface are required, provide the corrective work plan including method of correction to the Engineer for approval. Limit the method of correction to diamond grinding, flat tooth grinding or removing , and replacing the affected pavement. If grinding is
Part 400 — Asphalt Pavements August 2025
400-50 SECTION 413 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE selected, provide a grinding simulation using ProVAL to the Engineer for approval. To produce a uniform cross section, the Engineer may require corrections to the adjoining lanes and shoulders. Do not perform any corrective work without the approval of the Engineer. Where corrections are made after the official Department test, the pavement may be retested by the Engineer to verify that corrections have produced an acceptable ride surface, although the official Department test will be used to determine pay adjustments . No positive pay adjustment will be provided for sections on which corrective actions are performed.
413.04 Method of Measurement.
The Table below provides the pay adjustment and corrective action criteria for standard roads based upon the posted speed limit of the roadway and the IRI of each sublot. IRI values will be rounded to the nearest integer value for each sublot before assessing the pay adjustment. Posted Speed Limit (mph) Pay Adjustment (Percent) 35 40 – 45 50 55 – 65 IRI (Inches per Mile) 50 and Under 42 and Under 38 and Under 34 and Under +5% 51 - 57 43 - 50 39 - 44 35 - 39 +4% 58 - 70 51 - 60 45 – 52 40 - 46 +3% 71 – 80 61 - 70 53 - 62 47 - 54 +1% 81 – 100 71 – 85 63 - 72 55 - 62 0% 101 – 120 86 – 95 73 - 82 63 - 72 -5% 121 – 135 96 – 110 83 – 92 73 – 82 -10% 136 – 150 111 – 125 93 – 105 83 – 95 -20% 151 – 170 126 – 140 106 – 120 96 – 110 -30% Over 170 Over 140 Over 120 Over 110 Corrective Action Required* * Corrective action will be required additionally for any section or segment with surface deviation(s) exceeding 0.30 in. when tested with a 10-ft rolling straightedge simulation analysis. If the corrective action(s) results in an IRI greater than the corrective action threshold for any sublot in any wheel path of a standard road, the Contractor will be assessed an adjustment based on the following Table. Posted Speed Limit (MPH) Pay Adjustment (Percent) 35 40 – 45 50 55 – 65 IRI After Correction (Inches per Mile) 171 – 190 141 – 155 121 – 135 111 – 125 -50% 191 – 210 156 – 175 136 – 150 126 – 140 -75% Over 210 Over 175 Over 150 Over 140 -100% The pay adjustment for each sublot will be applied to the theoretical tonnage of each respective sublot. The theoretical sublot tonnage will be obtained by taking the sublot length, multiplied by half of the width of the travel lane (11 ft will be used fo r lane width unless otherwise indicated), multiplied by the design thickness of the surface course, multiplied by the unit weight. The
Part 400 — Asphalt Pavements August 2025
SECTION 413 — RIDEABILITY – SURFACE COURSE 400-51 Department will use a unit weight of 150.0 lb/CF for dense graded mixes and 145.0 lb/CF for friction course and PPEST. Theoretical tonnage values for sublots will be rounded to two decimal places.
413.05 Basis of Payment.
Quality Control testing and reporting are included in bid item price per ton of the HMA. All corrective action required under this Section are at no additional cost to the Department. A pay adjustment will be determined for each sublot based upon the IRI of that sublot as described above. The theoretical tonnages of all the sublots in one lot (as defined in Subsection 413.03.1 Para. 3) will be totaled to yield the theoretical lot tonnage. The sublot tonnage adjustments will be obtained by multiplying the theoretical tonnage of a sublot by the pay adjustment of that sublot. Tonnage adjustments will not be rounded. The sublot tonnage adjustments will be totaled to determine the lot tonnage adjustment. The lot tonnage adjustment will be divided by the theoretical lot tonnage to obtain the unit price adjustment for that lot. The unit price adjustment will be rounded to six absolute decim al places for each lot (i.e., XX.XXXX%). This unit price adjustment will be multiplied by the unit price of the surface course HMA and applied to the theoretical tonnage of the lot for pay purposes. The Department may use the Weighted Average Unit Price (WAUP) for the respective surface course HMA for rideability pay adjustment purposes if the Contract does not: • Have an item number exclusively for the surface course HMA because it has been grouped with related work such as tack coat, base course HMA, or micro-milling, or • the surface course HMA does not otherwise have an explicit price basis, or • the Contractor has not submitted an accepted exclusive unit price basis for the surface course HMA before beginning any resurfacing or paving activity, Incentives will be addressed using Item Code 416.0100. Disincentives will be addressed using Item Code 416.0150.
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