Pavement Management

Question 1

Pavement Management

Answer 1

defined as being a process and a pavement management system being
the application or implementation of the process in a working, operational environment such as in
a public agency.

Pavement Management System (PMS) as any system that is used to store and
process road and/or bridge inventory, condition, traffic and related data, for highway planning and
programming

Question 2

Pavement management systems Provide Information About?

Answer 2

The actual pavement condition
• The future pavement condition
• Current maintenance needs and budget requirements
• Future maintenance need and budget requirements
• Consequences of postponing maintenance both in terms of maintenance needs and budget
requirements.

Question 3

Why are PMS needed?

Answer 3

-public demands for high levels of pavement
quality are expected to increase in the near future, especially when the main and secondary road
systems begins to require extensive repairs.
-funding for highway maintenances operations can
be expected to become more stringently controlled in the near future. In those situations
pavements may deteriorate to such an extent that road users costs may increase rapidly (vehicular
deterioration) because of the poor pavement condition.

Question 4

LEVELS OF PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

Answer 4

Network level

Project Level

Question 5

What is the Network Level?

Answer 5

-Evaluation of all pavements under an agency’s jurisdiction.

-The primary objective of network level management is to develop an agency-wide prioritized
pavement repair program that will yield the least total cost or greatest benefit under overall budget
constraints.
-Network level management works on more approximate data than does project level
management.

Question 6

What is the Project Level?

Answer 6

-Focuses on a particular location and usually comes after network level
analysis in local agencies.

-Once a segment has been identified as a candidate for repair at the
network level, an engineering analysis is then performed at the project level.
-more detailed evaluation, since the information gathered at the network level does not
normally include the type of data needed to make detailed design decisions for an individual project.
-testing, such as coring and nondestructive testing, is often conducted during a project
level analysis to provide additional knowledge about pavement condition and cause of
deterioration.

Question 7

What are DATA collected during Network and Project Level?

Answer 7

Network:
• Sectioning and data acquisition (field
data on roughness, surface distress,
deflection, etc., plus traffic, cost and
environmental data)
• Portrayal of present status
• Data processing and evaluation

Project:

Sub sectioning and detailed data
acquisition (materials, traffic, unit
cost)
• Data processing and evaluation

Question 8

What are CRITERIA to be met during Network and Project Level?

Answer 8

Network:
• Minimum or maximum acceptable
levels (serviceability, surface distress,
structural adequacy, etc.)
• Maximum program costs
• Maximum levels of traffic interruption
• Selection basis (i.e. cost-effectiveness)

Project:
Minimum or maximum as built
conditions (roughness, surface
friction, structural adequacy, etc.)
• Maximum project costs
• Selection basis (i.e. minimum net
present worth of costs)

Question 9

What are ANALYSES

to be carried out during Network and Project Level?

Answer 9

Network:
• Present needs sections, deterioration
predictions and future needs sections
• Maintenance and rehabilitation
alternatives for needs sections
deterioration predictions, life cycle
costs and benefits
• Priority analysis for different budget
levels or for specified performance
standard(s)

Project:
Within project rehabilitation or
maintenance alternatives, detailed
field and laboratory tests
• Deterioration predictions
(serviceability and distress) for
alternatives
• Economic evaluation of
alternatives.

Question 10

What are SELECTION

criteria during Network and Project Level?

Answer 10

Network:
• Determination of final programs of
maintenance and rehabilitation.
• Program recommendations,
administrative and elected body
approvals.

Project:
• Best within project or section
maintenance and/or rehabilitation
alternatives.

Question 11

What are IMPLEMENTATION

criteria during Network and Project Level?

Answer 11

Network:
Establishment of work schedules,
sequences, contract tenders and
awards.
• Program monitoring
• Budget and financial planning updates
• Inventory and data base updates

Project:
• Construction activities, work
control and quality assurance, as
built records
• Maintenance activities and
management records
• Data base updates

Question 12

Advantages of Network Level

Answer 12

The network-level approach is characterized by top-down logic system optimization, data, large data
and resource requirements, and sophisticated models. Its chief advantages are that it can:
1. Optimize solutions for the entire network.
2. Quickly and accurately produce conditional scenarios.
3. Prioritize broad areas of maintenance, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
4. Use consistent inputs in scenario comparisons
5. More easily obtain top management attention

Question 13

Advantages of Project Level

Answer 13

The project-level approach is characterized by simpler models, less data aggregation, fewer data and
resource requirements, less reliance on feedback for success and better understanding. Its chief
advantages are:
1. Relies less on aggregate data
2. Able to be used with little data
3. Better link between network-level and project level management decisions
4. Less dependent upon feedback for success
5. Easier to obtain buy in from others

Question 14

BASIC FRAMEWORK FOR PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

Answer 14

page 6

Question 15

Planning Phase?

Answer 15

analysis of the road system as a whole, typically requiring the preparation of
medium to long term, or strategic, estimates of expenditure for road development and preservation
under various budget and economic scenarios.

Predictions may be made of road network conditions
under a variety of funding levels in terms of key indicators together with forecasts of required
expenditure under defined budget heads. The physical highway system is usually characterized at
the planning stage by:

Characteristics of the road network:
• Grouped in various categories and defined by parameters such as:
 Load class or hierarchy
 Traffic flow/loading/congestion
 Pavement types
 Pavement condition
• Length of road in each category
• Characteristics of the vehicle fleet which use the road network

Question 16

Programming

Answer 16

Programming involves the preparation, under budget constraints, of multi-year road work and
expenditure programs in which sections of the network likely to require maintenance, improvement
or new construction, are selected and analyzed. It is a tactical planning exercise.

pg 7

Question 17

Preparation

Answer 17

This is the short-term planning stage where road schemes are packaged for implementation.
At this stage, designs are refined and prepared in more detail; bills of quantities and detailed costing
are made, together with work instructions and contracts. Detailed specifications and costing are
likely to be drawn up, and detailed cost-benefit analysis may be carried out to confirm the feasibility
of the final scheme. Works on adjacent road sections may be combined into packages of a size that
is cost-effective for execution. Typical preparation activities are the detailed design of:

An overlay scheme
Road improvement works (for example, construction along a new alignment, road widening,
pavement reconstruction, etc.)

Question 18

Operations

Answer 18

These activities cover the on-going operation of an organization. Decisions about the management
of operations are made typically on a daily or weekly basis, including the scheduling of work to be
carried out, monitoring in terms of labor, equipment and materials, the recording of work
completed, and use of this information for monitoring and control.

Activities are normally focused on individual sections or sub-sections of a road, with measurements
often being made at a relatively detailed level. Operations are normally managed by subprofessional
staff, including works supervisors, technicians, clerks of works, and others.
This phase also includes the maintenance phase or the actual operations of applying maintenance
treatments and the acquisition and processing of the data.

Question 19

Evaluation

Answer 19

The evaluation of pavements includes the establishment of sections and the periodic measurements
of such items as pavement deflection or structural adequacy, roughness or ride quality, surface
distress, surface friction, traffic, etc. it also usually includes the analysis of the data for use in the
other phases of the pavement management system.

Question 20

Data Base and Research

Answer 20

The data base section is identified as an information base for all pavement management activities.
The importance of research as a major phase of the pavement management systems depends
largely upon the available resources and the particular requirements of the agency.

Question 21

Steps required for the development and implementation of a pavement management system

Answer 21

1. Decision to start.
2. Commitment from top management.
3. Develop preliminary work plan.
4. Establish steering committee of top management and division heads.
5. Develop detailed work plan.
6. Evaluate software and hardware requirements.
7. Develop preliminary system with procedures for data collection, processing,
   analysis, and optimization.
8. Verification.
9. Demonstration to potential users and decision-makers.
10. Location of the pavement management system unit within the state highway
    agency.
11. Full-scale implementation and evaluation.
12. Routine operation of the pavement management system.
13. Maintain and improve.

Question 22

major problems that contribute to skepticism about the viability of PMS are:

Answer 22

• Natural resistance to change in the way decisions are made.
• Doubts about the reliability of prediction models.
• Cost and time factors needed to develop a pavement management system.
• Indications that no reduction in agency budget would occur even though a greater
percentage of needs could be accommodated through more effective use of the
funds available.
• Resources needed to maintain and update.
• The effect of institutional issues — turf issues — on traditional decision-making
prerogatives.
• The need for a well-trained staff, uniquely trained for PMS.

Question 23

PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA

Answer 23

-Inventory Data : An inventory of the existing pavements in an agency network is a key component of their
pavement management system.
-Historical Data: Pavement management is not a single time or periodic time application process. It has a long
term spectrum of connection or follow-through from the initial planning and programming to
design to construction to ongoing maintenance and in-service monitoring.

-Condition Data:Pavement condition data are used as the basis for every decision made with the PMS. If the
condition data are not reliable, none of the recommendations of the system will be reliable. In
Washington State, three types of condition assessment are performed by local agencies:
visual rating,
nondestructive testing (NDT), and
destructive testing.

Question 24

Types of Data and Typical Uses

Answer 24

pg 12, 13 and 14

Question 25

. DATA ANALYSIS

Answer 25

-The database alone is of little use to pavement managers without a method to identify and prioritize
needs, predict future condition, assess costs and benefits, and select effective management
strategies based on existing data.
- It is here that potential rehabilitation needs are evaluated and prioritized for planning and
scheduling budget needs so that the agency makes the best use of the limited funds available to it
for rehabilitation work.

Question 26

SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ROAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Answer 26

Processes: - The road MS must have an active role in the road agency.
The PMS must be viewed as an integral component in the highway
agency’s monitoring and planning process. The outputs from the RMS should be used to prepare
Annual Reports as this helps ensure that the data are collected regularly and the system is applied.

People: - The road MS must be fully institutionalized and supported
There must be sufficient budget allocated to operate the RMS and collect the necessary data.
There must be an organizational unit established to manage, monitor and continually improve
PMS implementation. This organizational unit must be appropriately
staffed, have clear job responsibilities, and must have clear reporting responsibilities to upper
management and executive level.

Information Technology: - The it components must be appropriate
Information Technology (IT) is becoming increasingly complex, as the demands for sharing
information between applications and users grows. Any medium to large organization should have a
strong IT division and an IT strategy to ensure that the benefits of IT are realized. The PMS implementation should fit within the overall IT strategy of the agency, and
should be properly supported from an IT perspective.

Data Collection: - Data collection must be appropriate and sustainable
Only the key data that are required in decision-making should be collected and stored in the
pavement management system. These data should be collected at the minimum level of detail with
the most appropriate data collection technology given the constraints and capabilities of the agency.
Where possible, data collection should be outsourced.