This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles

for the
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

Designation: E2133 − 03 (Reapproved 2020)

Standard Test Method for

Using a Rolling Inclinometer to Measure Longitudinal and
Transverse Profiles of a Traveled Surface1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation E2133; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of
original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A
superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope E1489 Practice for Computing Ride Number of Roads from

1.1 This test method describes the measurement of trans- Longitudinal Profile Measurements Made by an Inertial
verse and longitudinal surface profiles on paved road, bridge, Profile Measuring Device
and airport surfaces using a rolling inclinometer traveling at E1703/E1703M Test Method for Measuring Rut-Depth of
walking speed. Pavement Surfaces Using a Straightedge
E1926 Practice for Computing International Roughness In-
1.2 It is designed to (1) quantify the roughness of new dex of Roads from Longitudinal Profile Measurements
pavements and bridge decks; (2) investigate the effect of 2.2 NCHRP Report:3
various construction methods on surface roughness; (3) deter- NCHRP Report 434 Guidelines for Longitudinal Pavement
mine the location for corrective grinding; and (4) evaluate the Profile Measurement
effect of corrective grinding.
3. Terminology
1.3 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as
standard. The values given in parentheses are for information 3.1 Definitions:
only. 3.1.1 elevation, n—vertical distance of a point on a traveled
1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the surface relative to the horizontal datum.
safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the 3.1.2 longitudinal profile, n—the perpendicular deviations
responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro- of the pavement surface from an established reference parallel
priate safety, health, and environmental practices and deter- to the lane direction, usually measured in the wheel tracks.
mine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 3.1.3 slope, n—angular deviation of the traveled surface
1.5 This international standard was developed in accor- from the horizontal datum.
dance with internationally recognized principles on standard- 3.1.4 transverse profile, n—the vertical deviations of the
ization established in the Decision on Principles for the pavement surface from a horizontal reference perpendicular to
Development of International Standards, Guides and Recom- the lane direction.
mendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical
Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee. 3.1.5 traveled surface, n—any man-made, solid surface for
vehicular travel, for example, highways, runways, rails, bridge
2. Referenced Documents decks, guide ways, race ways.
2.1 ASTM Standards:2 3.2 Definitions of Terms Specific to This Standard:
E867 Terminology Relating to Vehicle-Pavement Systems 3.2.1 contact spacing, n—the fixed distance between the
E1274 Test Method for Measuring Pavement Roughness forward and rear measurement supports of the rolling incli-
Using a Profilograph nometer device, otherwise known as the wheelbase.
E1364 Test Method for Measuring Road Roughness by 3.2.2 data reading, n—the average of a series of slope
Static Level Method measurements taken over the data reading interval starting at
the beginning of every data spacing.
1
This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E17 on Vehicle 3.2.3 data reading interval, n—the distance in which a
- Pavement Systems and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E17.31 on series of slope measurements are taken at regular intervals and
Methods for Measuring Profile and Roughness.
Current edition approved Nov. 1, 2020. Published November 2020. Originally
the average slope is computed and saved as the data reading.
approved in 2003. Last previous edition approved in 2013 as E2133 – 03 (2013). 3.2.4 data spacing, n—distance between successive slope
DOI: 10.1520/E2133-03R20. measurements, equal to contact spacing.
2
For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or
contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For Annual Book of ASTM
3
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on Available from the Transportation Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, NW
the ASTM website. Washington, DC 20001.

Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959. United States

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 E2133 − 03 (2020)
3.2.5 feet or wheels, n—the appendages that physically NOTE 1—When this test is used to evaluate the compliance of a new
contact the traveled surface for the purpose of measuring the pavement surface with contract roughness specifications, the timeliness of
the test in relation to the date of the surface’s installation is of critical
slope and/or for providing support to the measurement device. importance. Since most portland cement concrete surfaces will change
3.2.6 inclinometer, n—a precision instrument that measures shape within a few days after installation—due to changes in thermal and
angular deviations of a pavement surface from a horizontal moisture gradients which cause curling at joints and cracks and slab
edges—for contractor quality control only, it may be desirable to gather
datum. profile data within 72 h after pavement installation.
3.2.7 inclinometer bias, n—repeating, uniform error in in-
5.2.2 Investigate the effect of different construction methods
clinometer readings.
on resulting pavement surface roughness.
3.2.8 measurement line, n—a reference line along which the 5.2.3 Investigate the curvature of (1) pavement surfaces due
rolling inclinometer travels to gather slope data for an elevation to curling, and (2) deflection of structural members within
profile. Location of the measurement line shall be established bridges and other structures.
at a defined distance from pavement edge or from the center- 5.2.4 Identify the locations in need of corrective grinding.
line or other specified locating reference. 5.2.5 Measure rut depth using computer simulation in ac-
3.2.9 run, n—a sequence of readings from a start point along cordance with Test Method E1703/E1703M.
the desired profile measurement line (straight or curved as
desired) to the end point. 6. Apparatus
3.3 Additional definitions of terms related to this standard 6.1 Rolling Inclinometer, with fixed wheelbase spacing. An
may be found in Terminology E867. inclinometer is mounted such that it can measure vertical
slopes (based on voltage output) along a line connecting the
4. Summary of Test Method centers of the single front and single rear wheels. These slopes
4.1 Location of longitudinal and transverse profile measure- are converted to elevation difference by use of trigonometric
ment lines shall be established. The location shall be recorded formulas. The inclinometer chassis is pushed at a uniform
so that it may be reproduced another time. walking speed (avoiding rapid speed changes), along a mea-
surement line. Distance traveled is measured by a wheel
4.2 As the rolling inclinometer is moved along the measure-
rotation sensor.
ment line, an on-board computer sequentially collects and
saves slope and distance data from the inclinometer and wheel 6.2 Inclinometer Chassis Device—An inclinometer shall be
sensor. mounted on a chassis supported by a single front and a single
rear wheel in line with each other, such that the chassis is free
4.3 Starting at one end of a measurement line, elevation
to rotate in a vertical plane as it travels along the desired profile
differences are automatically summed in the direction of travel
line, collecting slope measurements at specified data spacing.
to create a one-way run elevation profile along the line.
6.3 Inclinometer Wheelbase Spacing—Rolling inclinometer
4.4 Selected roughness indices, such as those listed in Table
chassis wheelbase spacing is to be in the range of 150 to
1, are calculated and displayed by the on-board computer
250 mm (6 to 10 in.). The minimum wheelbase is chosen to
screen; and also road “roughness/smoothness” and “must grind
encourage the use of large diameter wheels that will be less
areas” can be reported in printed graphical and tabular report
sensitive to imperfections in surface texture of the road. The
form.
maximum spacing is chosen to be less than one half the
5. Significance and Use smallest wavelength sensitivity of a road roughness index. For
example, the RN is sensitive to wavelengths as short as 0.5 m
5.1 This test method establishes procedures for collecting (1.5 ft). Other wheelbase spacing may be used when different
elevation and distance data of longitudinal and transverse data spacing is required for a specific purpose.
profiles on a traveled surface.
6.4 Data Spacing shall be an integer multiple of inclinom-
5.2 Results of this test are used primarily to: eter wheelbase ranging from 150 to 250 mm (6 to 10 in.).
5.2.1 Evaluate the roughness of traveled surfaces, using any
of several roughness indices shown in Table 1. Equations 6.5 Data Reading shall be conducted according to one of the
required for calculations of various indexes are contained in following procedures:
references shown in Table 1. 6.5.1 A series of slope readings shall be taken and averaged
in a manner suitable to record at minimum one elevation value
at each data reading interval from the start of data collection to
TABLE 1 Wavelength Sensitivity for Various Road Roughness the end of data collection. The Data Reading Interval shall not
Indices be longer than 50 mm because accurate measurement of the
ASTM Ride Number Index requires a sample interval of 50 mm or
Index Name Wavelength Sensitivity
Reference
shorter per NCHRP Report 434. The average of the series of
Ride Number (RN) 0.5 to 11.0 m (1.5 to 36.0 ft) E1489
Int’l Roughness Index (IRI) 1.3 to 30.0 m (4.3 to 98.4 ft) E1926 slope measurements shall be saved as the recorded data
4 m (12 ft) California Bridge 3.0 to 15.0 m (9.0 to 48.0 ft) E1274 reading.
Profilograph 6.5.2 A series of slope readings shall be taken over the entire
8 m (25 ft) California Profilo- 6.0 to 30.5 m (19.0 to 100.0 ft) E1274
graph (CPI) measurement session at a data reading interval such that the
data spacing interval is an integer multiple of the data reading

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interval. The data spacing interval as a minimum shall be five 8.2 Define Location of Measurement Lines—To ensure reli-
times the data reading interval. The collected slope reading able and repeatable data, the device shall follow the measure-
shall be filtered with a suitable low-pass digital filter and ment line with a tolerance of 625 mm (1 in.).
re-sampled with the data spacing spatial frequency. Each of the
8.3 Profile Data Collection:
re-sampled slope data shall be saved as the recorded data point
8.3.1 Sign Convention—Positive slope values indicate a
for the measurement.
change in elevation opposite to gravity. Negative values
6.6 Distance Tolerance—The allowable tolerance on the indicate a change in elevation in the direction of gravity.
measured distance traveled by the device along a measurement 8.3.2 Longitudinal Profiles in Wheel Paths—If a longitudi-
line during profiling shall be 60.05 %. nal measurement line lies in a left or right wheel path, the start
6.7 Steering, Propulsion and Speed—Guidance shall be points of the left and right line shall be established on a line
with or without a steering mechanism. Propulsion may be by perpendicular to the pavement edge unless otherwise stated in
hand or motor. Travel speed shall be in the range of 1.5 to report. A unique identification must be given to each measure-
5 km ⁄h (1 to 3 mph), avoiding rapid speed changes. Provision ment line together with all other information required for report
shall be made to correct for changes in velocity. (see Section 9).
6.8 Compensating for Velocity Changes—Since inclinom- 8.3.2.1 Collect the elevation differences along the left and
eters are very sensitive to horizontal acceleration and right wheel paths. To prevent confusion in interpreting and
deceleration, a suitable compensation algorithm must be de- analyzing the profiles later, it is suggested that one-way runs be
veloped to correct slope data at the end of each run. The made in the same direction as the traffic flow. Devices with a
velocity of the apparatus throughout the measurements shall be mirror imaging feature can be used to efficiently reorient a
recorded and saved with the recorded slope measurement profile to the direction of traffic.
points. The horizontal acceleration/deceleration shall be calcu- 8.4 Calculate Roughness Indices and Must-Grind Areas:
lated for each recorded measurement point. The inclinometer 8.4.1 Specify one or more indices as shown in Table 1 and
error shall be calculated from the acceleration/deceleration data specify an acceptable range for the index. Specify measure-
and the recorded slope measurement data corrected. ment line length and maximum line length for calculating
6.9 Data Filtering—Data from one-way surveys shall be roughness indexes if they are to be calculated at regular
filtered with a second order Butterworth filter, or a filter distances along each measurement line, as well as for the entire
appropriate for the index being calculated, to calculate rough- measurement line. References in Table 1 contain the necessary
ness indexes and to display filtered profiles (for the purpose of formulas for calculation of indices.
showing location of bumps). 8.4.1.1 Calculate required Roughness Index for each mea-
6.10 Unfiltered Data from two-way (closed loop) surveys surement line using slope or elevation data that is collected by
shall be used to generate elevation profiles of measurement rolling inclinometer device.
lines. Accuracy of unfiltered profiles shall be within 8.4.2 Specify the following parameters for calculating
63 mm ⁄50 m, plus level error. The reference elevation profile “must grind” areas (from California Profilograph data): seg-
shall be derived under similar temperature conditions and shall ment length, blanking band, template length, defect height,
be the average of three readings at each data reading point, safety margin.
using an accepted rod and level reference profile measuring
method. 9. Report
6.11 Operating Conditions—Device shall be capable of 9.1 The field report for each test section shall contain data
operating in environments with 0 to 90 % relative humidity and on the following items:
−20 to 40 °C (0 to 110 °F) temperatures. 9.1.1 Date and time of day,
9.1.2 Operator,
7. Establishing Measurement Lines 9.1.3 Weather conditions; principally temperature, cloud
7.1 Measurement Test Line Locations—Data may be col- cover, and wind,
lected on a line or lines placed anywhere on the pavement or 9.1.4 Name, serial number, and manufacturer of rolling
other surface, wherever elevation profiles or roughness indices inclinometer device used; and contact/data spacing,
are desired. For most analysis, the lines will be located along 9.1.5 Location and description of each longitudinal or
wheel paths, or will be transverse to the longitudinal direction transverse measurement line:
of the traveled surface. Longitudinal wheel path lines may be 9.1.5.1 Surface description; condition, type of pavement,
straight or curved to follow the geometry of the traveled and jointing,
surface, while transverse measurement lines should normally 9.1.5.2 Run number,
be straight. Distance of test lines from joints or pavement edge 9.1.5.3 Lane measured, start and end positions, run length,
shall be part of the recorded data. distance from joints or pavement edge, description of the
measurement line, direction measured, and
8. Procedure 9.1.6 Roughness indices, filtered profiles, and location of
8.1 Calibration—Follow manufacturer’s recommended “must grind” areas for each measurement line and for intervals
calibration procedure. within measurement lines as noted in 8.4.1.

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10. Precision and Bias 11. Keywords
10.1 At this time no precision and bias estimate from a 11.1 profiling device; rolling inclinometer; transverse and
statistically designed series of tests at different locations and longitudinal profiles
with different devices has been obtained.
10.2 If precision and bias of profile or distance are desired,
refer to the following document under development, “Standard
Test Method for Determining the Precision and Bias of
Equipment Used to Measure Longitudinal Profile of a Pave-
ment Surface.”

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