This paper describes a methodology to perform service life economic analysis for cost-effective management of roads and highways. The methodology predicts service life pavement condition and quantifies agency costs, user costs, and benefits. Condition-responsive maintenance intervention policies include asphalt resurfacing, concrete overlays and reconstruction. Reasonably good agreement is shown with the vehicle operating cost stream predicted by the World Bank's HDM-III program for typical asphalt pavement sections. Case studies are presented to illustrate the use of service life benefit and cost analysis to develop maintenance work programs and to prioritize competing alternatives for a new urban road. The paper also presents an example of the user cost methodology implemented for network-level pavement management applications in Mexico. (A)
Abstract