3D visualization of pavement distress using terrestrial LIDAR data

Abstract

Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) is a primal technique to obtain high quality 3D visualization
models from dense point cloud data. TLS data is being used in several civil engineering fields
such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), Pavement Condition Monitoring, etc. This
paper focuses on the potential application of TLS point cloud data in the visualization of
pavement distresses and in particular, the potholes on roads. Currently, the distresses like
potholes are evaluated either through visual examination or images with the approximations.
Nevertheless, the precise representation of the pothole is vital to appraise the severity of the
distress and be efficacious in the maintenance of the pavement structure. The objective of this
study is to use the point cloud data obtained from a terrestrial laser scanner for 3D
visualization of potholes on a bituminous pavement and also to quantify it by measuring its
accurate area. A road stretch in Vellore, India was taken and LIDAR survey was carried out
with a terrestrial laser scanner. The collected point cloud data was then postprocessed to
prepare a single LAS dataset with 6 mm accuracy. The area covered by the pothole was then
clipped from the point cloud and then visualized three dimensionally by creating different
perspective views in ArcGIS software. The results revealed that the LIDAR point clouds are
one of the promising data sources for accurate 3D representation of pavement distresses.