In spite of increasing demands for service, many municipal street departments in Iowa have faced budget shortfalls due to revenue limitations. These budget shortfalls do not allow them to maintain an aging street system adequately without careful planning. Thin maintenance surface (TMS) techniques have been developed to extend pavement life by mitigating existing distresses. TMS techniques, such as seal coat, slurry seal, micro-surfacing, and fog seal, are cost effective preventive maintenance techniques that, when properly used, reduce pavement life-cycle costs. Currently, many municipal street officials cannot expend the effort to test or improve existing preventive maintenance techniques. By performing these evaluations, researchers hope to encourage improved selection of maintenance techniques in urban settings. This research will show how TMS might be properly included in municipal street maintenance programs. The research evaluates the use of TMS in urban settings by constructing three sets of test sections in three Iowa cities. Condition surveys were performed before and after the application of the test sections and will be performed after the first winter to evaluate the performance of the each new surface. Construction was observed and crews used typical construction techniques so the results will be similar to those achievable using current techniques. This paper will report on the results of this effort based on information available at the time of writing. Final results will be generalized to develop a practical guide of recommendations for TMS and preventive maintenance, which will be available for street officials.
Samenvatting