From Tech Transfer Newsletter, Winter 2008 » printer-friendly

Pavement Preservation Resources and Training

Checking your Highway Network's Health

How healthy is your pavement network? Are you using your funds strategically to achieve the most value for your highway expenditures? How much will your system deteriorate if you defer preservation work?

A brochure available in 2008 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP) offers highway agencies guidance on strategically managing their entire pavement networks, asset needs, and available budgets. In the past, agencies allocated budgets and resources based on historic estimates of need and equitable distribution.

A Quick Check of Your Highway Network Health (Publication # FHWA-IF-07-006) provides a tool for highway agency managers to assess the needs of their pavement networks and determine the adequacy of their resource allocations. This tool generally uses information at hand or data generated by the agency's management systems.

The simple checkup tool examines the effect of current planned reconstruction, rehabilitation, and preservation work on pavement life and deterioration and provides agencies with information sufficient to either improve network condition or maintain the status quo by preventing further deterioration. For example, an agency would first evaluate reconstruction and rehabilitation work by examining the lane miles, design life, and lane-mile cost for each proposed project or planned strategy. Pavement preservation treatments would then be evaluated by examining the life extension offered by the treatment. These less costly treatments, including concrete joint resealing, thin hot-mix asphalt overlays, microsurfacing, chip seals, crack seals, and others can extend the life of roads in good condition. The agency can then decide how best to allocate funds among reconstruction, rehabilitation, and preservation to achieve the greatest improvement in its overall network condition.

"Integrating reconstruction, rehabilitation, and preservation in the proper proportions will substantially improve network conditions for the taxpayer while safeguarding the highway investment," says Larry Galehouse, Director of the NCPP.

The checkup tool approach allows decisionmakers to see the effects of resource allocations on the health of their pavement networks. "It is about managing the system condition with the budgets provided or demonstrating the need for additional funds," says Jim Sorenson of FHWA's Office of Asset Management.

Download a copy of the brochure.

Preserving Your Pavement

Training in pavement preservation comes in many varieties – conferences, workshops, seminars, and even online training courses can provide you with the information you will need to apply the right treatment on the right road at the right time.

Pavement Preservation Treatment Construction

This online course is designed to provide an overview of the Pavement Preservation Online Guide (PPOG) as a resource for agency and industry pavement preservation practitioners. The training course guides individuals who are unfamiliar with pavement preservation policy and technical information through pavement preservation concepts and techniques. Free. Register for FHWA-NHI-131110

Asphalt Pavement Fundamentals: Design, Construction and Rehabilitation (IDM-03)

This intensive, three-day course provides solid working knowledge of the continuously evolving science and technology of pavement design, construction, maintenance, and preservation. It is intended for pavement design, construction, and maintenance engineers in state and local public agencies and private firms. Prices vary. Next session: San Diego, March 4-6, 2008. Register for IDM-03 at our Training page

For an excellent overview of pavement maintenance treatments, attend the 2008 California Pavement Preservation Conference.

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