Cost Effective Preventive Pavement Maintenance PDF Download

This study was initiated to determine relative cost-effectiveness of various preventive maintenance procedures and applications in extending pavement service-life, and to establish pavement distress limits within which each procedure is cost-effective on full-depth asphalt-cement-concrete pavements and on composite pavements. This was achieved by analyzing annual survey data and documenting condition of four maintenance treatments (crack sealing, chip seals, armor coats, and overlays) applied to surfaces having various levels of service, distress, and roughness. Based on data collected through 1988, three general conclusions applying to performance of the treatments appear warranted: (1) Not all variables had equal effects on service-lives of the treatments tested, and effects of individual variables were indeterminately comingled; (2) Because the pavements treated were adequately designed and built for the AADTs encountered, it was not possible to assess the effect of AADT on treatment service-lives; and (3) The single variable exhibiting most significant effect on longevity of any of the treatments tested, other than the treatments themselves, was pavement type, stratified by thickness (for full-depth asphalt-cement-concrete pavements). In addition, median service-lives were determined for each of the treatments, as well as distress limits within which each may be used cost-effectively.