Contributions of the Long-Term Pavement Performance Program to Pavement Management System Improvements: Better Data and Performance Models

The United States interstate highways and other components of the national highway system are approaching the end of their effective service lives. Many segments of this network have already surpassed their design lives and require frequent repair. State and municipal networks are facing the same crisis. Highway agencies nationwide are under pressure to produce pavements that perform better and last longer. This demand cannot be met using the current suite of pavement engineering and management tools. The new tools needed to meet the challenge can only emerge from research. The Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program goes a long way towards meeting the challenge. Its mission is to promote increased pavement life through research, and after 20-years, LTPP has produced many products that have benefited pavement engineering and management practices. In addition to building a national pavement database, products derived from LTPP have been flowing to the highway community since its early years ranging from standardized data collection methods, new engineering tools, and new pavement design methods. This paper details LTPP’s contributions towards the advancement of pavement