A Practice Proven Pavement Management System for Local Governments

Roads are one of the most valuable infrastructure assets within a community. Proper maintenance of the roadway network can promote the prosperity of a community. In recent times maintenance has become much more difficult with the price of asphalt is increasing drastically and city budget contracting due to the economic downturn. With these conditions, the proper management of an agency’s street network is necessary. The usage of pavement management systems provides the help needed in the preservation of the street network. The usage of pavement management systems provides significant benefits such as identification of the most cost-effective pavement treatment actions and accurate predictions of pavement deterioration. The paper presents a case study of a pavement management system in the city of Tooele, Utah. This pavement management system has been applied to 144 miles of roadway in the city. The Utah Local Technical Assistance Program conducted three separate pavement assessments in the years 2000, 2004 and 2009. These pavement assessments formed the basis for the maintenance program for Tooele. The impact of the pavement management system is detailed with the extension of the pavement service life and a drastic reduction in the total cost of pavement costs. An economic analysis of no pavement management, a partial pavement management system, and a full pavement management system is provided. The full pavement management system showed a savings of about $32,000,000 over a 40-year period for the city when compared to a no maintenance option.