Pavement Preservation: A Successful Implementation

Preventive maintenance is practiced everyday with highway agency equipment such as dump trucks and backhoes, but when it comes to maintaining roadways, most agencies will always defer repairs until the pavements have failed. This often results in very expensive repairs. This article provides some guidelines to help highway agencies make the switch from a reactive “worst-first” mentality to a pro-active “best-first” approach. Although it is a proven fact that pavement preservation is the most cost-effective long term method of managing a pavement network, few local agencies have successfully implemented such a program. Success requires that an agency implement the Right Treatment at the Right Place at the Right Time (3Rs) approach. This approach requires decision makers to have a clear understanding of the current condition of the pavements and the long-term consequences associated with different levels of funding. Additionally, all pavement improvement projects must be designed and properly constructed. In order to gain support of the community at large, the public must be educated as to why pavement preservation is the most cost-effective long-term approach to managing any pavement network. This article provides a brief discussion of six important issues that must be addressed in order to implement a successful pavement preservation program.