An introduction to pavement management

The author defines pavement management as being the method and procedure for collecting data and making decisions concerning rehabilitation strategies to achieve a desired level of serviceability for a road network, thus ensuring that available funds are used effectively. Various pavement management systems have the following elements in common: an inventory of the road network, data from systematic inspection of pavement condition, with a data bank to record it, rules for identifying critical projects and a reporting system. While the author sees it necessary to have a thorough study before adopting any comprehensive management system, he believes much could be done by greater emphasis being placed on the collection of data on traffic, and pavement condition and performance.