Maintenance and rehabilitation (m&r) activities upgrade pavementcondition and foster a new life cycle. Precise prediction of the effectiveness of these activities and how they retard the progression of distresses are key issues in setting priorities in a pavement management system. The extent to which the timing and level of m&r activities influence pavement condition is explored. Employing time series pavement performance data, mechanistic empirical models have beendeveloped to predict the immediate jump in pavement condition, and, following the treatment, the rate of deterioration. Pavement condition rating, an aggregate statistic of both roughness and distress, is used as a measure of serviceability. Parametric studies were undertaken to estimate the timing and to select the most effective level of treatment. The results indicate that the immediate effect of an m&r activity depends on the condition of the underlying structure. The life-cycle analysis of three treatments (surface treatment and thin and thick overlays) applied at various condition levels indicates that if repairs are performed while the pavement is still in the "slow rate of deterioration" phase, life cycles are greatly increased. Similarly, timely maintenance treatment will reduce the equivalent uniform annual cost of the facility. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1276, Maintenance management 1990: proceedings of a workshop, jackson, mississippi, july 25-27, 1990.
Abstract