DEVELOPMENT OF A UTILITY EVALUATION FOR NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING EQUIPMENT USED ON ASPHALT CONCRETE PAVEMENTS.

Nondestructive testing of pavements has become a cost-effective and invaluable aid in determining the actual condition of pavement sections in a highway network. Because the number of nondestructive testing devices in use grows each year, the choice of the best method involves a complex comparison of alternatives involving the test equipment itself, the resulting data, and the available methods of analyzing the data provided. All of these factors are considered in a systematic way by the application of utility theory. A hierarchical weighting system is developed using nonlinear utility curves. Five generic nondestructive testing devices are evaluated for use on asphalt concrete pavements for both project-level design and network-level planning.