The procedure used by the New York State Department of Transportation to collect highway condition data by using an in-motion windshield survey is described. The windshield survey is performed by road rating teams from the department's regional offices. Cost is about $50,000 for the 16,000-mile system or about $3.12/mile. Rating is done with carefully developed photograph scales in which photographs show not specific distress signals but rather general impressions of roads at various condition levels. Periodic training ensures consistency in assessing highway condition, and this decentralized approach permits a rapid data collection effort at a low cost to the agency. Also presented are the many uses of these data in the state's pavement management activity, both as a network-level condition-assessment process and as a screening process to identify sections of highway that require further engineering analysis. The conclusion is that windshield surveys conducted in accordance with the outlined rating methods can provide pavement managers with a current and reliable assessment of network-level highway condition and point to possible problem sections that require more detailed analysis. Low costs, speed of delivery of data, and avoidance of expensive measuring devices are also significant advantages of the method.

The purpose of pavement management is to protect the capital investment in the highway system and to ensure maximum serviceability to the motoring public at reasonable cost. Pavement management involves planning, design, construction, maintenance, and periodic evaluation of pavement structures. The pavement management process involves comparison of investment alternatives at both the network and project levels, coordination of the various activities of the highway agency, and the efficient use of existing information and methodology. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is taking a number of steps to improve its pavement management practices. A pavement management task force is reviewing department practices and procedures in pavement evaluation as well as the