Pavement Condition Index

Road maintenance is a basic tenet of good governance. That is why the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) has an industry-accepted, award winning system for analyzing the conditions of the pavement for all 5,462 lane miles of roadways within the County. This system is called Pavement Management and is founded by a numeric system referred to as Pavement Condition Index or PCI. PCI is a numerical expression between 0-100 numerically representing the pavement's condition.  For example, a PCI of 30 is considered as “poor” whereas a PCI rating of 80 indicates pavement in "very good" condition.

The pavement's numerical PCI score is developed through an analysis of nineteen (19) discrete pavement distresses (cracking, pot holes, environmental distress, utility cuts, etc.) and ranges from 1-100 with 1 being an absolute failure and 100 representing perfect conditions. The level of road repairs in any given year is based entirely upon available funding.

MCDOT’s Division of Highway Services (DHS) conducts this PCI survey in two phases and on a rotating basis. All primary roads are surveyed one year followed by all residential roads the next year. This ensures accurate, timely PCI numbers. This is a state-of-the-art process that uses high resolution cameras coupled with lasers mounted on slow moving vehicles that accurately measures and records detailed pavement conditions.  These conditions are aggregated and converted to PCI values as discussed above. The primary roadway study is done every even year, and the residential roadway study is conducted every odd year. The results from the latest PCI survey will assist MCDOT in the development of future road resurfacing schedules.