GPS data boosts FHWA-backed pavement measurement technology

Federal Highway Administration and Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) product developed by Austin, Texas, engineering and design firm Transtec Group, ProVAL software has been upgraded to offer highway agencies and contractors map-based features alongside pavement profile characteristics.GOVAFF-GPS-400

ProVAL 3.5’s pavement profile analysis fully incorporates GPS data, enabling users to view pavement profiles on road or aerial maps. Highway contractors use ProVAL to accelerate operations and boost profits. Its standardized platform reduces time spent analyzing pavement profiles—the software can process and integrate numerous formats of profile data—and contractors can reduce the risk of penalties with ProVAL’s construction performance-enhancing functions, such as the Smoothness Assurance Module.

Owners, agencies, and contractors use ProVAL to increase consistency throughout operations by employing a single, standard tool for smoothness analysis and reporting. Combining ProVAL’s pavement profile analysis with road maps and aerial maps enhances usability and better relates the results of analysis to jobsite locations, Transtec notes. The software currently supports MapQuest Road, MapQuest Aerial, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps Road, and Bing Maps Aerial.

In addition to state departments of transportation, ProVAL has been incorporated into American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and FHWA Federal Lands specifications. Transtec staff provides ProVAL user support and training in cooperation with FHWA and assists DOTs during the process of incorporating the software into specifications. Additional ProVAL 3.5 information and free downloads can be obtained at www.RoadProfile.com.