Pavement distress survey system

A method of detecting and identifying pavement distress features, comprising the steps of:

• providing a surface vehicle means for moving over a length of pavement being inspected;
• optically inspecting said pavement at a given first angle for surface defects over a surface of said pavement for having a first field of view as said surface vehicle means is moved over said length of said pavement;
• providing first output data;
• optically inspecting said pavement at a second given angle for surface defects for having a second field of view which has at least a portion thereof in common with said first field of view;
• providing second output data;
• and thereafter
• determining a surface condition of said length of said pavement travelled by said surface vehicle means,
• wherein said steps of optically inspecting said pavement at given first and second angles comprises the steps of optically inspecting said pavement with first and second infrared cameras, respectively.

A pavement subsurface exploration system, comprising:

• a surface vehicle means for traversing along said pavement;
• a first infra-red camera means for thermally inspecting said pavement for subsurface moisture distribution and soil characteristics, wherein said first infra-red camera means is mounted on said surface vehicle means, and is projected towards said pavement;
• a second infra-red camera means for thermally inspecting said pavement for subsurface moisture distribution and soil characteristics, wherein said second infra-red camera means is mounted on said surface vehicle means and spaced apart from said first infra-red camera means, and is projected towards said pavement;
• and
• a video signal image processing means for determining the surface temperature profile of said pavement travelled by said surface vehicle means.