Analyses and procedures for pavement management systems

A computerized method has been developed to conduct network optimization analysis for Nevada Department of Transportation. The analysis uses performance models along with life cycle cost analysis to identify the most effective treatment to be applied for a specific pavement section. Performance models were developed for the most common maintenance treatments: sand and chip seals, and rehabilitation treatments: overlay, roadbed modification, and mill and overlay. The models were developed using actual pavement management data collected on field sections for the past fifteen years. The life cycle cost analysis uses the present worth approach along with actual cost figures for initial and annual construction activities.;The individual treatments are used to create alternatives that can provide the acceptable performance level for a given pavement section over the entire analysis period of 20 years. The performance of pavement sections is modeled in terms of the present serviceability index (PSI). The most effective alternative is selected based on the highest benefit cost ratio which is defined as the ratio of area under the PSI curve over the total cost of the alternative. Once the most effective alternative is selected for each pavement section, a summary of the annual expenditures is provided for the group of pavement sections that have been selected for analysis. The group of projects can be the entire network or a group of pavement sections that have been selected by the engineer.