DEVELOPMENT, ISSUES, AND PROCESS OF PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

The background and history of the pavement management process are briefly noted, and the terminology and key factors in pavement management are discussed. System analysis and systems engineering concepts are reviewed. The historical development of pavement management is traced to the application of AASHO Road Test results which in some states led to the development of preliminary pavement management systems. Early NCHRP studies also pointed out the need for such systems. Design was identified as the focal point of pavement management. Legislative, administrative and technical issues involved in the development and implementation of pavement management systems are discussed. The process of pavement management is summarized as a set of basic concepts appropriate to either the network or project level, or both. The actual application of this process by a particular agency, including detailed models and methods is the pavement management system. Diagrams are used to illustrate the major activities at the basic levels of pavement management. Basic concepts that characterize the pavement management process and diagramatically illustrated, as are also the key deliverable features of a successful pavement management system. The key element of the pavement management concept is that it considers all important pavement aspects and includes planning, budgeting and ranking of alternatives.