CHAPTER 2 DESIGN-RELATED PROJECT LEVEL PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

Pavement management in its broadest sense encompasses al1 the activities involved in the planning, design, construction, maintenance, evaluation, and rehabilitation of the pavement portion of a public works program A pavement rnanagement system (PMS) is a set of tools or methods that assist decisionmakers in finding optimum strategies for providing, evaluating, and maintaining pavements in a serviceable condition over a given period of time The function of a PMS is to improve the efficiency of decision-making, expand its scope, provide feedback on the consequences of decisions, facilitate the coordination of activities within the agency, and ensure the consistency of decisions made at different management levels within the same organization In this sense, pavement "design," as covered by this design Guide, and "rehabilitation," as covered in Part III of the Guide, are vital parts of the overall pavement management process The purpose of this chapter is to show more clearly the interrelations of design and rehabilitation with pavement management and with existing or potential pavement management systerns The detailed structure of a PMS depends on the organization of the particular agency within which it is implemented Nevertheless, an overall, generally applicable framework can be defined or established without regard to any particular detailed departmenal organization Other reports outline rather complete, long-term concepts of pavement managernent , and provide guidelines for immediate application based on existing technology (29), and thus it is not our purpose here to include such guidelines It is convenient to describe pavement management in terms of two generalized levels (1) the network management level, sometimes called the program level, where key administrative decisions that affect programs for road networks are made, and (2) the project management level, where technical rnanagement decisions are made for specific projects Early formal pavernent management S ystems development occurred at the project level More recently, extensive development in maintenance management and data

management methodologies provides opportunities for development of more comprehensive pavement management systerns, where more activities can be included and explicitly interfaced with each other at the network level Pavement management systems can provide several benefits for highway agencies at both the network and project levels Foremost among these is the selection of cost-effective alternatives Whether new construction, rehabilitation, or maintenance is concerned, PMS can help management achieve the best possible value for the public dollar At the network level, the management system provides information pertinent to the development of a statewide or agencywide program of new construction, maintenance, or rehabilitation that will optimize the use of available resources This relationship is illustrated on the left side of Figure 2 1 Considering the needs of the network as a whole, a total PMS provides a comparison of the benefits and costs for several alternative programs, making it possible to identify that budget or program which will have the least total cost, or greatest benefit, over the selected analysis period The benefits of using such a system have been proven in practice At the project level, detailed consideration is given to alternative design, construction, maintenance, or rehabilitation activities for a particular roadway section or project within the overall program Here again, by comparing the benefits and costs associated with severa1 alternative activities, an optimum strategy is identified that will provide the desired benefits or service Ievels at the least total cost over the analysis period

2.1 RELATIONSHIP OF DESIGN TO PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT

From Figure 2 1 we see that "design" is primarily a project level activity since design is norrnally not done until budgets are allotted and programs are set Figure 2 2 illustrates the better known relationships