4 steps to modern pavement management
Modern pavement management involves a systematic and data-driven approach to maintaining and optimizing road infrastructure. There are four key steps to modern pavement management: description of pavement condition and trends, identification of problem areas and problem types, estimation of pavement management and rehabilitation requirements, and development of work plans. These four steps work together to ensure that roads are safe, efficient, and cost-effective for the communities they serve. We explore each step below.
1. Describe Pavement Condition and Trends
The first key step is to describe the pavement condition—both now and over time. In order to begin this process, you will need to start collecting pavement data. It’s important to try to ensure the highest quality of your collected data. Make sure the data collection equipment is properly calibrated and certified. Likewise, the operators performing the data collection need to be specially trained and certified.
2. Locate Problem Areas / Identify Problem Types
The second key step in modern pavement management is locating problem areas and pinpointing the types of problems. The best way to accomplish this is by generating maps and displaying graphs that show the road condition.
GIS maps can give you a wealth of information. A one-page GIS map can show you the condition of every road in a county in half-mile increments. You can even tell which roads are performing well and which are not—just by looking at the map.
3. Estimate Pavement Management & Rehabilitation Needs
The third key step in pavement management is to estimate which pavement preservation or rehabilitation projects you will need to implement to meet the organisation’s goals. Depending on your organisation, you probably have specific performance measures that you need to achieve. It may be an average pavement performance score or a certain percentage above a performance threshold.
No matter the goal, having enough money to fix the road and meet those performance measures will always be a challenge. Your organisation needs to decide what the top priority work projects are, and when the best time to do those projects is to get the best value from your available funds.
4. Develop Work Plans
The fourth key step in modern pavement management is to develop work plans to implement your selected projects based on your available budget.
First, you’ll need to define the objective. For example, do you want to minimize rutting or cracking? Or do you need to improve ride quality? Or do you want to maximize the overall roadway performance?
Next, you’ll need to define your constraints. A primary constraint is always the budget. A second constraint might be the minimum roadway performance you want to achieve, and a third constraint might be the minimum percentage of your road network that must achieve that level of performance.
Next, you’ll want to define the time period for your pavement plan. You can develop a 2-year, 4-year, or 5-year plan—or a plan for any length of time you choose.
Your pavement management team will then perform the analysis and recommend a work plan for maintenance and rehabilitation.
Finally, field validations or evaluations are very important in work planning. You will need to look at factors that will affect the location of the work and that may alter traffic patterns. You may have to tweak the work plan a few times before settling on a final plan of action.