Ramps constitute an integral part of an agency highway network. However, the importance of ramps has not been widely recognized and addressed within the pavement management system (PMS). Ramps can deteriorate faster than mainline routes resulting in discomfort to the motorists. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is responsible for the maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of more than 4000 ramp segments in their state highway system. In order to define the need for maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) work, plan implementation in a timely fashion, and to establish annual budgets, NJDOT added their ramp network to the PMS in 1995. This paper details a novel approach on the integration of ramps with the existing mainline network database that resulted from eight years of PMS development and enhancement efforts. The paper reports the scope and methodology for the ramp survey and analysis, development of ramp identification system, a condition-rating procedure for field-testing of ramp network, QA/QC procedure, loading procedure of the ramp data to the PMS and a ramp M&R and optimization analysis.
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