Validation of mobile LiDAR surveying for measuring pavement layer thicknesses and volumes

• We present a LiDAR-based method for measuring pavement layer thicknesses and volumes.
• Layer thickness and volume estimations are computed in a two-step algorithm in Matlab.
• We test the accuracy of LiDAR data compared to the ground-coupled 2.3-GHz GPR results.
• Thickness measurements using mobile LiDAR show errors always less than 1.5 cm.

Mobile LiDAR surveying is currently one of the most popular topics in road inspections. This non-destructive technology is suitable for collecting infrastructure inspection data related to 3D geometry and radiometry. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is traditionally used to measure pavement thickness, though this technique requires reference data (cores) when surveying in a ground-coupled configuration.Within this work, a new alternative method to GPR has been studied for determining pavement layer thicknesses and volumes. We analyze the performance of mobile LiDAR technology in this scope and test its accuracy compared to the results obtained with a ground-coupled 2.3-GHz GPR antenna. The findings presented here are based on field data collected from the Ourense–Celanova highway, in Northwestern Galicia. The results showed the potential of the Lynx Mobile Mapper to obtain the designed pavement thickness of newly constructed roadways with errors that are always less than 1.5 cm.