After the Rain: Tackling Pavement Ponding
Ponded water is a silent but powerful threat to our roads. During floods and periods of heavy rainfall, water can infiltrate deep into subgrade layers, compromising the structural integrity of flexible pavements. Once trapped, excess moisture can persist for months, creating conditions that accelerate pavement failure long after the floodwaters have receded.
As climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, relying on historical climate data alone is no longer sufficient for pavement design. Rising sea levels, prolonged ponding, and repeated flooding events significantly reduce the resilient modulus of pavement foundations, making them more vulnerable to deformation under traffic loads.
Credit: Bonness Inc
Water ponding post rain fall
What’s the Challenge?
Flexible pavements rely on a stable, strong subgrade foundation to perform as designed.
Flooding and excess moisture weaken these foundations, sometimes for extended periods.
Traditional surface-based assessment methods, like manual surveys or simple video reviews, often fail to identify these hidden vulnerabilities, leaving decision-makers with an incomplete picture.
The Way Forward
The answer lies in data-driven, advanced assessment techniques that go beyond basic visual detection. Modern machine-learning–based sensitivity analyses, combined with high-resolution pavement evaluation tools, can help identify the most critical variables influencing pavement deterioration under climate stressors.
One such advanced tool is the Laser Crack Measurement System 2 (LCMS2). This state-of-the-art technology captures ultra-high-definition 3D range and intensity data across the entire lane width, approximately 4 metres, with sampling resolutions as fine as 1 mm. Compared to legacy systems like LCMS1 or 13-point multilaser profilers, the LCMS2 dramatically improves defect detection, repeatability, and coverage, enabling engineers to:
✅ Identify fine, micro, and sealed cracks that older systems often miss
✅ Measure the shape and severity of rutting with thousands of data points, eliminating errors caused by kerbside parking or ponded water
✅ Generate continuous, consistent, lane-wide 3D datasets, rather than patchy surface images
✅ Support cloud and local machine-learning workflows for rapid, repeatable analysis
This represents a shift from reactive, patch-based maintenance to a proactive, engineering-led pavement management strategy. With better data, agencies can develop works programs and budgets that truly reflect their network’s needs, improving resilience to the next flood or climate-related event.
Let’s Rethink Pavements
It is time to reimagine how we build and protect our pavements for a changing climate. Investing in tools like LCMS2, FWD, supported by data-driven sensitivity analysis and modern modelling, will help safeguard our road networks from increasingly severe climate impacts.
The future of our roads depends on moving beyond yesterday’s climate assumptions and embracing tomorrow’s challenges with the right data and engineering know-how.
🌎🛣️ Let’s build resilient pavements for a resilient world.