# ASTM International Proposes Standard for Sidewalk Smoothness Based on Board Study



## mark handler (Apr 21, 2016)

ASTM International Proposes Standard for Sidewalk Smoothness Based on Board Study

ASTM International logoRough and uneven surfaces can be uncomfortable, even painful, for people who use wheeled mobility aids. ASTM International, an organization that develops voluntary consensus standards, is proposing a new standard for the smoothness of sidewalk surfaces to ensure that they can be comfortably traversed by everyone, including those who use wheelchairs, scooters, and wheeled walkers, as well as people with strollers and roller boards. While there are ways to measure and analyze surface roughness for roadways, none are appropriate for pedestrian pathways.

According to ASTM International, the new standard will describe a method to collect and analyze data from a sidewalk to determine its roughness. The ASTM Committee E17 on Vehicle-Pavement Systems is overseeing its development.

The proposed standard, "Practice for Computing Pathway Roughness Index from Longitudinal Profile Measurements" (WK41917), is based on the results of a study funded by the Board that used subject testing to examine how the roughness of pathway surfaces impacts wheelchair travel. Conducted by the Human Engineering Research Laboratories at the University of Pittsburgh, the project measured body vibrations resulting from travel across various types of bumpy or uneven surfaces, including existing sidewalks and simulated surfaces. The results indicated a high correlation between surface roughness and exposure to whole body vibrations. Some test surfaces were rated as unacceptable by over half of the subjects due to the discomfort they caused. Based on the findings, researchers recommended a method and protocol for measuring surface roughness as the basis for a new standard. The project report, which is available on the Board's website, also provides recommendations for a sidewalk roughness index threshold and for the design of a measurement device.

https://www.access-board.gov/research/completed-research/surface-roughness-final-report

For further information on the new standard, visit ASTM International's website or contact Julie Lively at jlively@astm.org or (610) 832-9681.


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## MASSDRIVER (Apr 24, 2016)

That's an incredibly stupid way to waste some money. I wonder where tactile high visibility warning dots fall on the smoothness scale?

The lawsuits from people slipping and busting their a55 should be interesting.

Brent


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