PAVEMENT PRESERVATION / CARBON NANOFIBER CONCRETE / PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

ALL ABOUT
CONCRETE
A look at a road reconstruction project
with compacted concrete pavement

JANUARY 2022
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SCRANTON GILLETTE COMMUNICATIONS
PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

PROTECTING
THE PAVEMENT
Pavement management systems needed to keep roads safe

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By Mick Gronewold, P.E., Contributing Author

TWO CIVIL ENGINEERSTHOMAS TELFORD AND JOHN LOUDON

MCADAMARE CREDITED WITH BUILDING THE FIRST MODERN ROADS IN
THE 1800S. TELFORD WOULD LATER IMPROVE THEM BY ANALYZING STONE
THICKNESS, ROAD TRAFFIC, REALIGNMENT, AND GRADIENT SLOPES,
ACCORDING TO THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION.

Pavement management—also known condition reduced fatalities and injuries by

as street studies—was a necessity then, 26% when compared to poorly maintained
and still is today, as all 50 states have roads. Like other types of planning, it can
some form of pavement management reduce headaches, give clarity, improve
system (PMS) in place. Despite a com- safety, and ultimately save money.
munity’s pavement network almost always Benefits go beyond safety and cost.
being its largest portion of infrastructure, Management systems allow com-
there is seemingly never enough money munities to take a long-range view of
for improvements. The American Society roadway assets and plan for the future.
of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure Setting goals for infrastructure needs is
a C- on the group’s 2021 Report Card. sometimes an incentive for communities
One way to get to a better place is by to commit to investing in their roads,
implementing a proven solution—proper and street study results can help build a
and effective pavement management that case for funding to help with infrastruc-
incorporates modern technology with ture upkeep.
pavement strategy to reduce error and Implementing the study requires
save dollars in the long run. knowledge, skill, and monitoring—but can
be well worth it. It allows communities
WHAT IS PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT? to create a strategic plan or program for
Pavement management is the process resurfacing and rehabilitation projects. The
of planning maintenance and repair bigger picture even allows room to plan for
activities for a network of roads or other major reconstruction. Communities might
paved amenities. This allows communities feel they do not have the funding for a
to optimize pavement conditions and PMS, but should realize it is a great way to
develop a plan to incorporate costs for point out roadway and maintenance needs
minor and major road construction. The to taxpayers and community leaders.
concept is not anything new; however,
in many areas, few communities are HOW IT WORKS
participating in long-term planning. While most may not think of a road as
In simple terms, instead of using the a living, breathing thing, the concept is
roads and letting them deteriorate until not that far off. Weather changes and time
it is time to completely rebuild them, passes. The three items affecting the life
road operators and departments of of pavement of which we have no control
transportation (DOTs) have found a better are time, weather, and use. These factors
way. Having a PMS in place prioritizes do not fall into a set schedule and are
road maintenance and repairs based difficult to plan, making monitoring and
on the potential return on investment. A record-keeping important.
study from 2014 showed rural, two-lane Simply put, pavement manage-
highways with pavement kept in good ment is keeping data on infrastructure.

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PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

Information is logged into a database where it is analyzed and used results and implement a program. When an outside firm manages
to develop tracking metrics, including the average pavement condi- the system, it reduces worry when municipal employees leave their
tion index (PCI), a key performance indicator. The lower the PCI for positions or priorities shift. Once the data is in place, a conversation
a road segment, the nearer it is to the end of its useful life. Ranking about repair plans and long-term strategy with priorities and alterna-
the PCI for your road network shows the backlog of needs. Keeping tives can begin.
accurate data allows projects to be ranked in priority order. It also
can make pavement deterioration more predictable. PUTTING TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY
Some cities and towns hire an outside consultant for a profes- Historically, communities wrestled with the concept of advanc-
sional eye and to incorporate special software. Others keep the ing a PMS. Some did not trust the results because the condition
job in-house and use a spreadsheet. Factors like material type, ratings were left to human opinion and interpretation. Some
age, geometry, drainage, substructure conditions, and construction struggled since the PMS process can be laborious and costly to
history should all be recorded. Basic geophysical segmentation, complete, requiring significant hours for trained staff to visually
average daily traffic (ADT), functional class, curb reveal, and pave- inspect the community’s roadway network and time to review road
ment thickness are also necessary additions. preservation or repair treatments and prepare cost estimates.
Communities that have geographic information system (GIS) Repeatability of a PMS to update or show progress was difficult
integration can create a linear route system to help develop a pave- because of the human interpretation component. The data was
ment data layer. Engineers can help community leaders understand bulky and challenging to sort through, and it was disconnected
from day-to-day operations.
Today, technological improvements in digital imagery, artificial
Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Treatment Band Ranges intelligence (AI), and global positioning systems (GPS) remove
human bias and significantly reduce the time and cost to collect
the data. The result is a digital survey vehicle (DSV). DSVs are
equipped with laser crack measurement systems (LCMS)—similar
to laser scanning equipment—that is revolutionizing the way the
survey industry collects data. LCMS collects detailed images of the
pavement surface as the DSV travels over the area. Images are
correlated with GPS coordinates and often GIS shapefiles to provide
the coordinate location of the pavement condition data collected by
the LCMS. As a side benefit, because the quality of pictures and the
GPS horizontal coordinate correlation with the photo, often items
like sanitary manholes or water valves that show up in the imagery
can be located and added to the municipal GIS system from the data
collected during this process.
In addition to the digital images collected by the LCMS, pave-
ment data such as the international roughness index, which
quantifies rutting deformation of the pavement structure, can be
collected simultaneously. The inspection data is uploaded to an
industry software program such as PAVER to develop and organize
pavement inventory, assess pavement conditions, predict future
conditions, and report on past and future pavement performance.
Information such as functional class of the roadway segment, ADT,
and truck traffic percentage can be added to enhance the data. The
result from the software evaluation provides each roadway segment
a PCI rating in accordance with ASTM D6433, allowing the various
roadway segments to be ranked.
With AI, today’s pavement management software programs
use predictive models to project future maintenance treatments
for roadway segments based on the data obtained from LCMS.
Built-in functionality allows the user to determine the options and
associated costs to bring any particular roadway segment to a

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 PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

baseline desired pavement condition. Historically, this required them to wait for complaints before addressing issues, which can cost
substantial hours by city staff or a consultant to review, assess, them more in the long run.
and compile cost estimates. Today’s modeling software options The Minnesota Department of Transportation studied effects
allow cost-effective iterations to be more consistent without added of regular maintenance and discovered that when road cracks are
human bias. repaired early, they can be treated with a rout-and-seal technique for
The resulting database of roadway segments provides an a nominal cost. If the same road deteriorates to a point where a full
organized pavement inventory, comprehensive data on pavement surface treatment is required, the cost rises by a factor of 16 to main-
conditions, predictive models of future pavement conditions, and tain. Delaying the need for complete reconstruction saves dollars. This
predictive models for maintenance or reconstruction. The models, involves regular application of inexpensive preventative maintenance.
which include cost estimates categorized by PCI combined with Some steps can be taken to improve a community’s chances of
recommended maintenance treatments and projected future costs, having a successful PMS, which could unlock other places for money
are ready to be used. to be spent. One of the biggest routes to success is gaining support;
Communities with GIS integration can create a linear route some of the best infrastructure systems are because of the leader-
system to help develop a pavement data layer to enhance any PMS. ship behind them. Having partners who understand and advocate
Spatial analysis capabilities can be used to match the geographical for infrastructure are key to successful PMS implementation.
nature of the road networks. There is a growing trend in integrating Many communities take a reactive approach to road maintenance
GIS data to create a PMS. Advantages include database editing and because that is how they have always done it or because past
the ability to visually display results of database queries, stats, and budget constraints have hampered more proactive methods. By
charts on a map of the highway network. Seeing the network condi- leveraging advances in technology over the last five years, taking
tions in a color-coded chart makes the next steps clearer, especially steps to address road maintenance needs sooner has become
for nontechnical people. easier, more cost-effective, and integratable. The first step in taking
a more proactive approach to managing lane miles in a community
NOW IS THE TIME is to invest in a thorough PMS and leveraging available software
Many might see addressing the worst roads first as common options. This will help improve how and when decisions are made
sense—but that is not always the case. Rather than blowing a budget and how limited road funds are spent.
to reconstruct a mile-long stretch of roadway in terrible condition, It is increasingly necessary to lengthen the life of infrastructure
the same dollars could preserve or treat a longer stretch of road in assets by taking a long-term approach. This not only helps stretch
less dire condition. Many communities take a reactive approach to dollars, but also considers resource conservation that affects the
road maintenance. This is sometimes because tight budgets force environment. When longer life cycles of pavement are involved, the

Regular road maintenance and pavement management plans can help municipalities save money by prioritizing projects.

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