What are ASTM International Standards?

ASTM International is a US standards body that publishes technical standards for materials and test methods. Its former name was the American Society for Testing and Materials. It took the name ASTM International in 2001. Its headquarters is in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. ASTM sells each standard in its online store, and a standard has a designation and an edition year, for example D5340-24.

ASTM standards for airfield pavement

The pavement condition index (PCI) is a number from 0 to 100. A value of 0 is a failed pavement and 100 is a new pavement. The number comes from the type, severity and quantity of each distress that an inspector records.

Two ASTM standards set the PCI survey method:

• ASTM D5340 is a test method for airport pavements. It covers visual surveys of asphalt-surfaced and jointed concrete pavement. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed it, and the FAA and the Naval Facilities Engineering Command adopted it. Its standard units are inch-pound units.
• ASTM D6433 is a practice for roads and parking lots. Its standard units are SI units.

The FAA names D5340 in its pavement advisory circulars. AC 150/5380-7B says that ASTM adopted the PCI as the rating standard for airfield pavements. AC 150/5380-6C says to determine the PCI with the procedures in D5340.

D5340 defines each distress type. The PAVER distress manuals carry the same distress numbers. On asphalt airfields they include alligator cracking (41), block cracking (43), jet blast erosion (46), longitudinal and transverse cracking (48) and oil spillage (49). On concrete airfields they include corner breaks (62) and cracks (63).

What the PCI does not show

The PCI is a visual survey result. It cannot measure structural capacity. It gives no direct measurement of skid resistance or roughness. A structural evaluation needs other tests. AC 150/5320-6G cites ASTM D4694 for falling weight deflectometer tests.

Other ASTM standards on airports

The FAA also cites ASTM test methods in its construction specifications. Item P-306, lean concrete base course, requires a 7-day compressive strength of 500 to 800 psi. The contractor makes the specimens to ASTM C192 and tests them to ASTM C39.

ASTM D5340 and drone inspection

D5340 sets how an inspector identifies and counts distress. A PCI to D5340 uses the D5340 distress types. TarmacView’s crack detection is in development and is offered as early access. Its rules code cracks to D5340 types 41, 43 and 48 on asphalt and 63 on concrete. They do not yet code other distress types, such as jet blast erosion.