Title: RESPONSIBLE PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT FROM TECHNICAL TO POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Abstract: When considering the highway maintenance process it is vital to achieve good communication between policy makers, those concerned with pavement management and the general public. A Pavement Management System (PMS) occupies a fundamental role in this field by providing concise, objective information and thus eases the assessment of alternative maintenance strategies. A PMS is a valuable and multi-functional aid to effective pavement management. As a management and policy tool a PMS is an extremely useful instrument in the translation of political decisions and policy statements into a viable maintenance plan within the budgetary constraints. A PMS as a technical tool aids the choice at project level by determining the most effective methodology for this maintenance plan. In the early stages of the PMS all available highway data was stored within the software database. This proved to be an inefficient use of the resource and lead to excessive storage and data management requirements. Data collection has now been redefined so that only data deemed necessary is stored i.e. the road condition survey, relevant quantities, traffic models and trigger values. From this raw data the most cost effective solutions with their prices are generated. For the financing of the remedial works a dedicated road fund is one possible solution. Great care must be taken in defining the scope of the works financed by the road fund. The Integrated Management of the Public Space methodology (IMPS) is going to be important in determining scheme priorities. Within this IMPS it is possible to compare technical values with other values that are not easily quantifiable, e.g. amenity value, perception and environmental priorities. In South Africa the national PMS guideline document (TRH22, draft 1994) is in urgent need of updating to reflect the development in the field of pavement management and IT. Of particular interest are the performance management system requirements in the Municipal Systems Act. Financial ratios, which, amongst others, include operating expenditure, will be used to compare the efficiency of municipalities countrywide. PMS is an operational tool for municipalities for almost 20 years and in the Netherlands almost 75% of all the municipalities are using it! It is a success story in the Netherlands. The clue to the success is the clarification of the role of the PMS in the decision-making process and to keep it as simple as possible!
Publication Year: 2003
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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