RATINGS FOR HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN, NOR WILL THERE EVER BE, THE UTOPIAN SITUATION IN WHICH A STATE HAS SUFFICIENT FUNDS, TIME, PERSONNEL, AND EQUIPMENT TO ATTACK SIMULTANEOUSLY ALL THE PROJECTS REQUIRED TO BRING ITS ROADS UP TO STANDARD. CHOICES MUST BE MADE. AN ENGINEER MAY BE INFLUENCED IN HIS JUDGMENT OF NEEDS BY HIS GREATER KNOWLEDGE OF CERTAIN ROUTES THAN OTHERS WITHIN A SYSTEM, UNLESS HE HAS AN OVER-ALL, CONSISTENT AND IMPARTIAL SCALING OF ALL SECTIONS OF THE SYSTEM FOR COMPARISON AND GUIDANCE. RATING PROCEDURES HAVE PROVED TO BE THE MOST SATISFACTORY, REALISTIC, AND FACTUAL MEANS OF EVALUATING HIGHWAY NEED AND PROGRAMMING IMPROVEMENTS. AS A BASIS FOR PRIORITY DECISIONS, THE RATINGS SHOULD INDICATE THE RELATIVE URGENCY OF NEED OF EACH SECTION OF A ROAD SYSTEM AND SHOULD DEFINE THE CONDITION OR CONDITIONS OF CRITICAL DEFICIENCY. THE ITEMS SELECTED FOR APPRAISAL WERE ASSIGNED POINTS AND THE METHOD OF EVALUATION SO DESIGNED AS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FULL RANGE OF POINTS FOR EACH FACTOR. THE TOTAL RATING OF 100 POINTS INCLUDES: (1) STRUCTURAL ADEQUACY, FOUNDATION, SURFACE, DRAINAGE; (2) SAFETY; (3) CAPACITY. A PRINCIPAL PURPOSE OF CONDITION RATINGS IS TO ALIGN SECTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN ORDER OF PRIORITY.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • 53 Pp, 32 FIG, 2 TAB
  • Corporate Authors:

    New Mexico State Highway Department

    Planning and Programming Division, P.O. Box 1149
    Santa Fe, NM  United States  87501
  • Publication Date: 1971

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00207430
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
  • Created Date: Jun 5 1972 12:00AM