Highways are important to the nation's infrastructure: both industry and the public depend on them. Unfortunately, highways are deteriorating at an alarming rate. At the same time, funding for maintenance and repairs is diminishing. Making a case for spending more on maintenance is difficult for several reasons. Logically, performance effectiveness and life-cycle costs should control the decisions about pavement maintenance. Chip and sand seal coating are increasingly used to deal with pavement surface deterioration and to defer capital spending. A life-cycle costing analysis of seal coating is presented. The economic analysis was used to better understand the optimal timing for seal coats. National practice review and an expert opinion survey within INDOT were used to consolidate the state of practice. These sources of information are reviewed, and ways the information was used for developing decision criteria are demonstrated. A decision tree was developed for types of pavement surface distress using data gathered in Indiana. The decision tree suggests a preferred solution and, if funding is a problem, offers a priority ranking for the projects. Recommendations about when to use chip seals and sand seals, and where a choice exists are summarised. The guidelines are designed to meet the needs and constraints of INDOT, but with adjustments they can be used in other jurisdictions
Samenvatting