A SYSTEM FOR LIFE-CYCLE DESIGN OF PAVEMENT

Facility design and maintenance based on life-cycle cost analyses has been justified from economic and serviceability standards. The Armed Services Procurement Regulations acknowledges this by stating: "It is the policy of the Department of Defense to procure supplies and services from responsible sources at fair and reasonable prices calculated to result in the lowest ultimate overall cost to the Government".[l] To efficiently accommodate this guidance in pavement management activities, the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) has developed a computerized system for performing life-cycle pavement analyses. The purpose of this paper is to describe this system and exemplify its use relative to the life-cycle design of portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements.