Development of the New 2011 Canadian Pavement Asset Design and Management Guide: A Brief Summary of Canadian State-of-the-Practice

The development of the new 2011 Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Pavement Asset Design and Management Guide (PADMG) began in September 2009. The project is a pooled fund study being sponsored by over twenty Canadian public agencies including all ten provincial Canadian Departments of Transportation, several major Canadian cities, several industry associations and the federal government. The effort is being lead by a Canadian consortium team composed of consultants and academics from across Canada. The consortium team is composed of a diverse group of practitioners who have experience across Canada in the various areas of expertise pertinent to this guide. The new 2011 PADMG will be an up-to-date, practical consolidation of Canadian pavement design and management practice for practicing engineers, managers and technicians. It will also be a valuable resource for college and university courses both in Canada and elsewhere. The guide will highlight key industry issues such as sustainability, climate change, and new innovations. The paper first provides a summary of findings from a stakeholder survey to determine current state-of-the-practice in Canada. Information collected in this survey covers the major practices areas in pavement design and management. There will be 15 chapters in the new guide ranging from discussions on the principles of asset management, to data requirements, sustainability, maintenance, materials, low and high volume road design and life cycle analysis of pavement designs. The draft 2011 PADMG has been submitted and the project will be completed by September 2011