Issues in Integrating Pavement Management and Preventive Maintenance

Abstract

For years, pavement-management systems (PMSs) have been used in highway agencies to improve the planning efforts associated with pavement-preservation activities, to provide the information needed to support the pavement-preservation decision process, and to compare the long-term impacts of alternative preservation strategies. As such, pavement management is an integral part of an agency's assetmanagement efforts and an important tool for cost-effectively managing the large investment in its transportation infrastructure. PMSs have been used by several agencies to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of pavement-preservation programs that include the use of preventivemaintenance treatments. By comparing the long-term effects on pavement condition associated with an agency's current practices with a strategy that includes preventive maintenance, the benefits of a preventive-maintenance program can be demonstrated. However, agencies have had limited success expanding the use of their PMSs to support a preventive-maintenance program because most PMSs have not fully integrated preventive-maintenance treatments into the analysis. The importance of integrating preventive-maintenance treatments into a PMS to support a preventive-maintenance program is addressed, and the most common gaps between maintenance efforts and pavement management are discussed. In addition, current approaches used to integrate these programs and the advantages and disadvantages associated with each approach are presented. Finally, recommendations for improving the integration of preventive-maintenance treatments into an agency's PMS are provided.