Cost-Effectiveness of Rehabilitation Alternatives – The Case for Flexible Pavements

The combined and accumulated effects of traffic loading and climate over time are primary causes of flexible pavement deterioration. As such, at a certain point in the life of a flexible pavement, some rehabilitation activity is often required not only to improve pavement condition and enhance its structural integrity, but also to defer the need for reconstruction. A critical issue facing pavement managers and engineers is the assessment of the cost-effectiveness of various flexible pavement rehabilitation treatments so that the best rehabilitation alternative can be identified. Using data from a wet-freeze mid-western state in the United States, this paper analyzes the cost-effectiveness of the following flexible pavement rehabilitation treatments: Functional hot mix asphalt (HMA) Overlay, Structural HMA Overlay, Resurfacing (partial 3R standards), and Mill Full-depth & Asphaltic Concrete Overlay. Effectiveness is measured in terms of the immediate jump in pavement performance (short term), treatment service life and increase in pavement performance (long term); cost is the agency cost of the treatment expressed in terms of the equivalent uniform annual cost (EUAC) per lane-mile; and cost effectiveness is the ratio of effectiveness to cost. The study utilized pavement condition and other related data from the years 1994 to 2002 of a mid-western wet-freeze state in the United States. The study results suggest that on the basis of treatment service life, HMA functional overlay appears to be the most cost-effective treatment, followed by resurfacing (partial 3R standards); on the basis of immediate performance jump and increase in pavement performance, HMA structural overlay was found to be the most cost-effective, followed by HMA functional overlay.

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• Authors:
  • Irfan, Muhammad
  • Khurshid, Muhammad Bilal
  • Labi, Samuel
  • Sinha, Kumares C
• Conference:
  • Seventh International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets
  • Location: Calgary Alberta, Canada
  • Date: 2008-6-23 to 2008-6-28
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 14p
• Monograph Title: 7th International Conference on Managing Pavement Assets, June 23-28, 2008, Calgary, Alberta, Canada: "Preserving What We Have, Investing in the Future, and Finding the Balance"

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bituminous overlays; Cost effectiveness; Flexible pavements; Hot mix asphalt; Milling; Pavement performance; Rehabilitation; Resurfacing; Service life
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01447733
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 28 2012 3:30PM