Pavement Inspection

PCC Distress Measurement

This section provides details about all of the distresses measured on Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) pavements. Click on one of distress names at the left (or the list below) to view a detailed description of the distress.


The following list provides additional clarification for special cases that are encountered in the field when identifying PCC pavement distresses.

  • A distress is said to have foreign object damage (FOD) potential when surface material is in a broken or loose state such that the possibility of ingestion of the material into an engine is present, or the potential for freeing the material due to trafficking is present.
  • Crack widths should be measured between the vertical walls, not from the edge of the spalls. Spalling and associated FOD potential are considered in determining the severity level of cracks, but they should not influence the crack width measurements.
  • A crack wider than 75 millimeters rates at high-severity regardless of filler condition.
  • Crack filler is in satisfactory condition if it prevents water and incompressibles from entering the crack or joint.
  • Low-severity scaling should only be recorded if additional scaling will occur within 2 to 3 years.
  • Joint seal damage is not counted on a slab by slab basis. Instead, the severity level is assigned based on the overall condition of the joint seal in the sample unit.
  • Compression joint sealant is in satisfactory condition if it is pliable, firmly against the joint wall, and not extruded.
  • Do not count a joint as spalled if it can be filled with joint filler.
  • If a medium- or high-severity shattered slab is recorded in a slab, no other distresses are recorded in that slab.
  • If durability cracking or ASR is recorded in a slab, spalling should not be recorded unless the inspector is sure that the spalling is not caused by the presence of durability cracking or ASR.
  • If a patch on a crack is less than 250 millimeters wide or 0.5 square meters, it is not recorded separately and counted as part of the crack.
  • Hairline cracks that do not extend across the entire slab should be rates as shrinkage cracks.