Recipient: Univ. of Pittsburgh Human Environment Research Laboratory
Grant: $35,000
PI: Jon Pearlman, PhD
Completion: 2014
Project Summary: 4
Background and Need
To rationalize a definition of sidewalk smoothness for wheelchair users, the US Access Board engaged the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 to conduct laboratory and field studies that defined acceptable, marginal and unacceptable (i.e., un-accessible) sidewalk surfaces for manual wheelchair users. A parallel project jointly funded by the ICPI Foundation and Brick Industry Association (each contributing $35,000) developed sidewalk pavement roughness measurement technology. The deliverables were a report and a protype roughness measurement machine dubbed the Pathway Measurement Tool or PathMeT as shown below. This project also funded a master’s degree thesis.