摘要: |
A workshop was conducted to test the raters in the evaluation of pavement surface distresses. Thirty-three raters, with varying experience in pavement evaluation, from five regional offices participated in the workshop. The raters subjectively recorded the severity and extent of 15 distresses pertaining to six flexible pavement sections. The data gathered were analyzed to study the variability of ratings, regional differences, experiential influence, and to identify the distresses that may be particularly difficult to assess. The selection of sites, methodology used in the study, and detailed analysis of data are described. Because the rating procedure was entirely subjective, the results were found to reflect wide variations among all regions. For instance, one of the regions underestimated the distresses, probably because the raters were trained by a senior rater who tended to underrate distresses and therefore passed on biases. No significant differences were found in the variability of results by experienced or inexperienced raters. Although centerline and transverse cracking emerged as the most consistently rated distresses by both groups, identification of alligator cracking apparently perplexed inexperienced raters. The study demonstrates that experience alone does not necessarily produce higher accuracy or greater consistency. It is important that raters be periodically trained and tested to keep biases from developing and perpetuating. |