Current Practices for the Prioritization on of Rehabilitation and Preventive Maintenance of Pavement Projects in Texas

摘要

With finite resources and an extensive road network to maintain, state agencies must makeoptimal and cost-effective decisions to prioritize roadways to receive rehabilitation (RH) andpreventive maintenance (PM) treatments. Prioritization methods implemented by state agenciesrange from a simple ranking of projects based on judgment to comprehensive optimization bymathematical programming models. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) districtsmake RH and PM decisions based on data extracted from the Pavement ManagementInformation System (PMIS). Each district uses a combination of approaches that relysignificantly on judgment for identifying RH and PM projects. There is a pressing need todevelop a simple, comprehensive prioritization method that reflects state-wide experience, whileit is easy to implement using PMIS data. A state-wide survey was developed to obtain thevarious methods the districts use to make these decisions. The responses obtained suggested thatthe PMIS data combined with visual inspection are the main tools use to prioritize projects. Acomputer tool was developed utilizing the information obtained from the survey data. It relies ona prioritization index based on the weights assigned to various distresses, as well as other factorssuch as traffic levels and structural condition. This computer tool was successfully verified bycomparing its output to actual decisions made by TxDOT district personnel.