Quantifying the Effect of Utility Cuts on the Remaining Service Life of Flexible Pavements in Northern Utah

The purpose of this research was to quantify the effect of utility cuts on the remaining service life (RSL) of flexible pavements in northern Utah and develop a rational basis on which cities may establish fees for utility cuts. A fully crossed experimental design was utilized for the study, in which street segments representing specific combinations of functional class, pavement age at time of cut, and pavement age at time of testing were evaluated. Testing included pavement roughness and distress surveys, as well as deflection measurements, and the data were analyzed in terms of both pavement condition index (PCI) and present serviceability index (PSI). The resulting statistical models include the same factors, namely, functional class, existence of a utility cut, and pavement age at time of testing. However, neither model includes pavement age at time of cut or any interactions among the main effects. The models indicate reductions of 22.6 and 1.3 in PCI and PSI, respectively, when pavements are cut, regardless of the pavement age at time of cut (between 0 and 10 years). These values correspond to reductions in pavement life of 18.7 and 50.0 years for the PCI and PSI models, respectively. With this information, a conceptual basis was developed for determining the impacts of utility cuts on RSL, and fee schedules were prepared. The PCI before and after the cut, the RSL before and after the cut, the damage index, and a proposed fee are shown in tables developed for each age interval.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AHD20 Pavement Maintenance.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Guthrie, W Spencer
  • Jackson, Kirk D
  • Montgomery, Sharlan R
  • Eggett, Dennis L
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2015-1-11 to 2015-1-15
• Date: 2015

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 18p
• Monograph Title: TRB 94th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Deflection; Fees; Flexible pavements; Mathematical models; Pavement distress; Roughness; Service life
• Identifier Terms: Pavement Condition Index; Present Serviceability Index
• Uncontrolled Terms: Utility cuts
• Geographic Terms: Utah
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01552734
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 15-4569
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 2 2015 4:03PM