Pavement Management Systems for Urban Areas

Pavements represent the largest public investment for most urban-area governmental jurisdictions. The magnitude of this investment requires that the expenditure of funds to maintain pavements be based on rational technological principles. The concept of 'pavement management' was developed to provide an overall framework for managing pavements at the 'network' and 'project' levels. Major functions at the network level include dividing the entire street network into manageable sections, inspecting and rating each section's condition, developing overall cost-effective rehabilitation strategies and assigning them to pavement sections using prioritization or optimization techniques, and programming current and long-term funding levels. Project-level pavement management includes developing and evaluating cost-effective rehabilitation strategies and designs for individual projects.