OVERVIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES IN PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION AND USE

Pavement management concepts were developed in the 1970s and matured in the 1980s. However, many agencies still are not using structured pavement management processes in their daily management activities. Federal and state mandates are compelling state and local agencies to implement pavement management systems; however, some of these agencies appear to be adopting pavement management to meet a requirement rather than using them to assist in making management decisions. With more agencies recently attempting implementation, it has become apparent that the institutional issues must also be addressed before effective, full use of pavement management practices becomes common among the agencies responsible for managing pavements. These institutional issues are related to both the operational characteristics of the agencies and the people in the organizations. Previous papers have addressed specific institutional problems and methods to overcome them in particular cases. The overall institutional issues that have been found to influence the adoption and use of pavement management practices at both the state and local levels are addressed. Approaches are identified that have been found to prevent, overcome, bypass, or reduce the problems caused by institutional issues.