Abstract: The objective of this research project is to perform analyses and to develop applications and functions to enhance Georgia Department of Transportation's (GDOT’s) pavement preservation. The project-level analyses explore why some pavements have a short resurfacing life while others last very long, what are the contributing factors, and can the pavements in Georgia last longer. GDOT is responsible for preserving and managing 18,000-centerline miles of state maintained roadways. More than 95% of these roadways are constructed of asphalt. Therefore, the analyses performed in this study focus on asphalt pavement. GDOT has conducted its asphalt pavement condition evaluation using the Pavement Condition Evaluation System (PACES) since 1986. PACES has been further refined as the Computerized Pavement Condition Evaluation system (COPACES), developed by Georgia Tech, and utilized successfully by GDOT since 1998. This vast reserve of statewide, historical asphalt pavement performance evaluation data is available to support this study of pavement preservation which in turn requires a statewide pavement life study. With the funding shortfall and escalating construction costs, GDOT has the need to: a) forecast statewide long-term pavement performance, b) scientifically justify the highway pavement preservation funding needed to the legislature, c) perform “what-if’ analyses to evaluate the impacts of different funding levels and pavement preservation strategies, and d) quantify the impact of escalating construction costs on GDOT longterm pavement preservation needs. Crack sealing and filling, one of the most popular pavement preservation methods used by GDOT, was also studied in this project. An intensive literature review was performed and supplemented by PACES data analyses to answer the following questions: 1) Is crack sealing a cost-effective pavement preservation method? 2) Can the benefits of using crack sealing be quantified? 3) What is the optimal timing (e.g. rating and distresses, etc.) to apply crack sealing? The authors also compare the characteristics of both project-level and segment-level PACES data and explore the use of segment-level data to support pavement preservation operations and management.
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-02-22
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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