Impact of Utility Cuts on Pavement Performance in the City of Seattle

The City of Seattle possesses a transportation system that is vital to the economic health of the City and the enhancement of the City’s quality of life. Millions of dollars in public funds have been invested to construct, maintain, and repair streets and the City holds these streets as a valuable public asset for its citizens. Seattle grants utility and telecommunication companies reasonable access to the public right-of-way to provide services to the community. However, in order for utility and telecommunications companies to maintain or upgrade their services, they need to access the pavement structure and this, in turn, affects pavement performance. The impact of utility company activity on pavement performance has been a concern of public agencies for many years. In large cities such as Seattle, thousands of utility cuts are made every year. In 1999, Seattle Transportation initiated an engineering study to study the impacts of utility cuts on street pavements. The objective was to determine the extent of pavement degradation and costs associated with maintenance repair and rehabilitation due to the presence of utility cuts. This paper summarizes the engineering approaches that were used to determine the impacts of utility cuts on Seattle’s streets, the results obtained, and the development of a fee schedule. The City’s pavement management system data was used together with deflection testing to quantify the impact of utility cuts. Asphalt concrete, composite and Portland cement concrete arterial streets were evaluated and the results indicated that an additional 40 mm (1.6 in.) of asphalt concrete overlay was required on all the asphalt concrete streets, and on approximately 45% of the composite streets. There were no consistent trends on the PCC streets. Based on this data, a fee schedule was developed for adoption by the City.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0971174016
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Washington, Seattle

  Engineering Professional Programs, 10303 Meridian Avenue North #301
  Seattle, WA  United States  98133-9483
• Authors:
  • Yapp, Margot
  • Lundy, James
  • Chu, Susan
• Conference:
  • Fifth International Conference on Managing Pavements
  • Location: Seattle Washington, United States
  • Date: 2001-8-11 to 2001-8-14
• Publication Date: 2001-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 14p
• Monograph Title: Fifth International Conference on Managing Pavements, August 11-14, 2001, Seattle, Washington. Conference Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asphalt concrete; Concrete overlays; Costs; Deflection tests; Financing; Maintenance; Pavement management systems; Pavement performance; Portland cement concrete; Quality of life; Rehabilitation; Right of way (Land); Streets; Telecommunications; Transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Utility cuts
• Geographic Terms: Seattle (Washington)
• Subject Areas: Design; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; Transportation (General); I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01037837
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0971174016
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 4 2006 9:11AM