Effects of Maintenance Treatments on Asphalt Concrete Pavement Management

Today’s state highway agencies (SHA) are faced with the challenge of maintaining the condition of their highway networks in an environment where funding levels are inadequate to address all of the pavement preservation needs identified. The use of preventive maintenance treatments is one example of a strategy that can be used to optimize the use of available funds. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of preventive maintenance programs, it is important that the benefits, or effectiveness, of maintenance treatments be incorporated into the agency’s pavement management activities. This research study was initiated to improve the integration of maintenance into the pavement management process by addressing the following issues. (1) Determine whether the current pavement condition rating procedures are adequate to evaluate the impact of maintenance activities on the various condition indexes. (2) Identify feasible condition levels that indicate when various maintenance treatments are viable candidates. (3) Develop guidelines to model the impact of maintenance treatments on pavement conditions. (4) Develop guidelines to establish feedback loops between maintenance, construction, and pavement management.