EVALUATION OF LASER TECHNOLOGY FOR MEASURING MACROTEXTURE ON AIRPORT PAVEMENTS

Abstract: Accurate macrotexture measurement is essential for ensuring the safety of airport pavements, as it directly impacts landing and takeoff operations, skid resistance, and the risk of hydroplaning. The sand-patch test has been widely used to determine the Mean Texture Depth (MTD) of pavements, but it presents limitations in terms of accuracy, time consumption, and potential human error. Therefore, new technologies, such as laser-based methods, have been employed to address or overcome these limitations. This study evaluates the efficiency of the ELAtextur, a laser-based device, as a modern alternative for measuring the Mean Profile Depth (MPD) and providing an estimate of the Equivalent Texture Depth (ETD), which correlates with the MTD from the sand-patch method. The ELAtextur device utilizes a high-resolution laser sensor to measure pavement macrotexture quickly and accurately over a circular profile of 400 mm. This work presents new data obtained from tests conducted on 24 airport runways across Brazil, under varying operational and climatic conditions, with both the sand-patch test and ELAtextur applied to the same pavement sections. Key performance indicators, such as average macrotexture depth, variation between measurements, and execution time, were analyzed. The results indicate greater consistency and accuracy in the measurements obtained with laser technology, along with significantly reduced execution times, which improves operational efficiency, especially on runways with high volumes of operations. A strong correlation was observed between the MPD values obtained via the ELAtextur and the MTD values from the sand-patch test, validating the reliability of the laser-based approach. This study highlights the benefits of adopting ELAtextur for airport pavement management in Brazil, demonstrating that laser-based macrotexture measurement offers significant improvements in efficiency, accuracy, and operational practicality compared to traditional methods.