| Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a process for evaluating the total economic worth of a useable project segment by analyzing initial costs and discounted future costs, such as maintenance, reconstruction, rehabilitation and resurfacing costs. One of the most important ingredients in the LCCA process is the determination of Road User Costs (RUC) during maintenance and rehabilitation activities. RUC models are also important in contracts, which take time of construction into account. Some of the more recent innovative contracting strategies which take time of construction into account include the following: I/D contracts, A+B contracts, and Lane Rental.; Methods used to date to determine RUC are analytical in nature. The purpose of this dissertation is to use microscopic estimates of traffic to determine RUC. CORSIM a microscopic traffic simulation program developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) was used for this research.; The initial half of this dissertation deals with sensitivity analysis and calibration of CORSIM for work zones. The scope of this research is restricted to a freeway environment. The results of this research are applicable to work zones with 2-to-1 lane closure scenario followed by the presentation of the RUC model and its applications. |
