Vol.:(0123456789) Surveys in Geophysics https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-019-09518-y 1 3 Assessment of Modern Roadways Using Non‑destructive Geophysical Surveying Techniques Christina Plati 1  · Andreas Loizos 1  · Konstantinos Gkyrtis 1 Received: 30 September 2018 / Accepted: 8 February 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract The main purpose of modern roadways is to provide roadway users with both a comfort- able and safe ride to their destinations. As such, they need pavements in good physical con- ditions to ensure safe and uninterrupted transportation of the public. During the previous decades, roadway engineers’ interests have shifted towards maintenance and rehabilitation of existing pavement structures, rather than the construction of new structures. Neverthe- less, pavement condition assessment (PCA) remains imperative both during construction for quality assurance purposes and during roadways’ service life for efcient maintenance planning. Research and current practices have shifted towards a broadened utilization of advanced non-destructive testing systems that enable non-invasive PCA. The current inves- tigation aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the geophysical methods available for modern roadways’ assessment. Geophysical surveying techniques including ground penetrating radar (GPR) and those based on stress waves theory can substantially improve PCA. They cover roadway applications including layer thicknesses determination, stif- ness estimation of asphalt and concrete pavements, as well as the determination of physical properties, subsurface defects detection and most recently density monitoring. In particu- lar, it is demonstrated that GPR can assist pavement engineers at all stages of PCA from the construction process through density control and compaction monitoring. Furthermore, throughout a roadway’s service life, GPR can be efectively incorporated as a supplemen- tary tool for monitoring and evaluation within a pavement management system, contrib- uting to optimizing roadways design and maintenance, preserving durable and sustaina- ble structures, ensuring cost savings for road authorities and highway operators through enhanced decision-making processes. Keywords Ground penetrating radar · Stress wave theory · Thickness evaluation · Density control · Signal processing · Pavement condition assessment * Christina Plati cplati@central.ntua.gr Andreas Loizos aloizos@central.ntua.gr Konstantinos Gkyrtis gkyrtis@central.ntua.gr 1 Laboratory of Pavement Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Zografou Campus, 9, Iroon Polytechniou Str., Zografou, 15780 Athens, Greece