OPTIMAL PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT APPROACH USING ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENTS

Many state highway departments are placing major emphasis on the development of cost-effective procedures for maintaining their existing pavement network. The state of Indiana is in need of a systematic procedure for allocating Interstate resurfacing funds to its pavement network. An optimization procedure for establishing resurfacing priorities at the network level, which can be incorporated in a pavement management system for the state, is described. Roughness measurements, increase in roughness over time, and traffic are the primary factors considered in the optimization scheme. Different types of resurfacing activities are considered in the model. A performance function model was developed to relate resurfacing strategies to the overall reduction in pavement roughness present in the pavement section just before resurfacing. Regression equations based on roughness measurements were also developed in this study for predicting future roughness levels. The optimization model has the capability of considering deficient pavement sections at any point within the specified analysis period. In addition, it has the capability of analyzing the impact of different budget scenarios. The model, in its present format, can predict what pavement section and resurfacing strategy combination should be adopted in order to achieve an optimal resurfacing program in Indiana during the next 5-year period. The application of the optimization model to the Indiana Interstate highway network is discussed in the paper.