Detection of cracks on highway pavements

In a maintenance management program for continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), it is desirable to determine the rate of change of the crack spacing. When the crack spacing becomes smaller, than the designed spacing there is a potential for failure and therefore preventive maintenance may be considered. Since field measurement of crack spacing of highway pavements is impractical in areas with high traffic densities, image processing techniques using aerial photographs have been explored as a means for automating this process. Algorithms for detection of cracks of highway pavements in aerial photographs are presented in this report. In an aerial photograph of the pavement, edge points are identified and potential boundaries of water marks are labelled.