Optimization for the Allocation of Funds for Pavement Maintenance in Pavement Management Systems

Pavement maintenance and rehabilitation are critical and costly elements for highway agencies. A challenge for transportation agencies is to preserve roadways in an appropriate condition and extend the pavement service life while maintaining the safety and satisfaction of its users, and maximize the benefits obtained by the repair investments. Pavement maintenance programming is increasing in complexity due to limited resources and increments in traffic and population. Management decisions are usually based on personal judgment by pavement managers and sometimes those decisions are not even supported by previous experience. Research shows that optimization methods can produce significant benefits when transportation agencies aim to minimize the total treatment costs to preserve the pavement network. This Thesis presents a comparison of current ranking methods used for funding allocation to a new optimization method to prioritize the investments. A new optimization method is recommended for funding allocation to enhance existing ranking prioritization methods used in Pavement Management Systems (PMS). A case study using data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Pavement Management Information System (PMIS) is shown to illustrate the applicability of the hybrid funding allocation approach. Recommendations are e provided for pavement management systems to support the development of more efficient maintenance and rehabilitation plans.