Most road agencies operate under a scenario where the maintenance need exceeds the available maintenance funds. In this environment pavement managers are forced to select maintenance and rehabilitation actions based on a defined methodology. Traditionally this was done through a ranking process where the maintenance priority was determined based on a road's importance and condition. Projects with a high priority rating were carried out first until the available funds were depleted. The more sophisticated pavement management systems utilise optimisation routines which allow for inter-project trade-offs when generating a maintenance plan. When utilising optimisation to select maintenance actions, various optimisation functions can be used. This paper shows how important the choice of maintenance selection methodology is on the long-term condition. Data from an actual road network is used and subjected to various ranking and optimisation functions. The outcome was evaluated in terms of long-term influence on network condition, overall transportation costs and asset value. It is shown that the analysis methodology selected should be compatible with the agencies' long-term maintenance objectives. (A)
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