A network-level pavement management system (PMS) has been used by cities and counties of the San Francisco Bay Area since 1984. Several agencies need to extend the analysis to the project level. Network-level PMS decision support systems used microcomputers to provide relatively simple support. However, project-level PMS elements currently require much more detailed analysis, which often requires the physical testing of materials. Much project-level analysis must take place outside the computerised decision support process. The Bay Area project-level PMS elements were developed to provide the needed support while maintaining an interface with appropriate analysis techniques used in the network-level decision support system. The project-level PMS programs use the existing data in the network-level PMS data base and allow the addition of information from analysis conducted outside the computer programs. A guide for conducting project-level evaluation to identify feasible alternatives and develop cost-effective treatments was prepared. The project-level programs allow the definition of contract and construction packages and manual intervention to adjust the data of construction when constraints not considered by the program are present. The calculation of the effects of maintenance and rehabilitation use the same general principles employed in the network-level analysis; however, the approach is modified to make use of the more-complete data collected. (A)
Abstract