Conservation management contracts, also known as conservation based on results, standards and levels of service is an effective new method of maintaining roads and reducing costs and more and more people are using it. Under this type of contract, the contractor must keep the road in a better condition than the minimum established without having to conduct any specific repairs. The conditions to be established could include a maximum IRI (International Roughness Index), absence of potholes, a drainage system that is never blocked,visible signs and controlled vegetation. The contractor is responsible for determining what has to be done and carrying out the work before the admissible limits are exceeded. The contractor's work must be essentially preventative and not only reactive, which is the usual custom,and he should have an effective planning system to allow him to anticipate any necessary work. This is basically a service contract, the contractor's fees must preferably be standard amounts, no matter the volume of work done during the period. Several Latin American countries have awarded these conservation management contracts on a trial basis for over 2,500 km of road. The results will soon be ready for evaluation. (A)
Abstract