PennDOT Pavement Life-Cycle Cost Analysis - Phase 1

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT's) current method of pavement LCCA and recommend steps the Department may take to improve its pavement LCCA process. In Phase I of the study, several activities were undertaken, consisting of the following: (1) A literature search/review to obtain applicable resource materials produced by both PennDOT and outside agencies, from which to determine the state of the art in LCCA. (2) Meetings with PennDOT officials to build upon the knowledge gained from the literature review and to find out how the process is being applied. This included a thorough review of how all of the input data were developed. (3) Meetings with appropriate Pennsylvania pavement industries to determine their perceptions on how the process is being applied. (4) A thorough analysis of PennDOT's current LCCA process, including a comparison to other States practices, examination of the LCCA inputs and how they were established, and thoroughly exercising the process to identify the sensitivity of the various input factors. Key findings and recommendations of the Phase I research include the following: (1) There is a great deal of flexibility in the methods used to determine initial pavement construction costs between Districts and various projects within a District. Standardized procedures for estimating initial costs using data contained in the ECMS database should be developed. (2) The schedules for pavement maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) in the Pavement Policy Manual need to be updated to reflect improvements made in the design and materials used in both rigid and flexible pavements over the last 10 years. (3) There is no external review of the process by the affected industries in Pennsylvania. An annual joint PennDOT and pavement industry review program for the LCCA process should be instituted. (4) The criteria for selecting a discount rate of 6% could not be determined and it was found that the rate used by PennDOT is higher than rates used by most of the other States surveyed. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) A-94 procedure described in the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) 1988 Interim Technical Bulletin on LCCA should be adopted for use in the LCCA.

• Corporate Authors:

  Applied Research Associates, Incorporated

  505 West University Avenue
  Champaign, IL  United States  61820-3915

  Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

  Bureau of Planning and Research
  400 North Street, 6th Floor
  Harrisburg, PA  United States  17120-0064

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Hallin, J
  • Smith, K L
  • Stanley, M
  • Vandenbossche, J
  • Morian, D
• Publication Date: 2005-4-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 98p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Flexible pavements; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle costing; Literature reviews; Pavement performance; Policy; Recommendations; Rehabilitation; Road construction; Sensitivity; State of the art
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Geographic Terms: Pennsylvania
• Subject Areas: Design; Finance; Highways; Pavements; Policy; Research; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01042038
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-PA-2006-032-030102-2
• Contract Numbers: 030102-2
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Feb 7 2007 11:15AM