In practice, road condition assessment is mostly applied to road surfaces. Nevertheless, the road surface is only one element of the whole road infrastructure system.
According to SN VSS 640 900a, the road infrastructure is a system consisting of the following sub-systems:
• road surface and trails (superstructure, substructure, slopes incl. de-watering)
• engineering structures (bridges, retaining walls, tunnels)
• technical equipment
• utility lines
• secondary structures and other equipment
An increasing number of road owners wishes to have a complete survey of the whole road infrastructure in order to have a complete inventory. As a result the condition of the infrastructure and required measures can be predicted.
Until now, the VSS does not provide standardized procedures or guidelines on how the condition of the additional equipment should be inspected and assessed. In practice people apply individual and specific procedures.
The research project aims at defining the condition assessment of additional equipment leading to an integrated road infrastructure management.