A comparative long-term effectiveness assessment of preventive maintenance treatments under various environmental conditions

Abstract

As an essential part of the pavement maintenance management system, preventive maintenance plays an important role in the asphalt pavement maintenance decision-making. In order to compare long-term effectiveness of preventive maintenance treatments (PMTs) under various environmental conditions, Specific Pavement Studies-3 (SPS-3) data were extracted from Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) program in this study. Environmental conditions include climate, traffic level and pre-treatment pavement condition. Weighted distress was used to characterize an average long-term performance. An average increment indicator was proposed to qualitatively analyze the effects of these conditions on the effectiveness of treatments. Logistic regression was adopted to quantity these effects. Implementation proposals were recommended in terms of PMTs. Results show that thin overlay is the most effective in comprehensive treatment of all performances, followed by chip seal, slurry seal and crack seal. Freeze condition has a significant influence on the effectiveness of treatments. Moisture level significantly influenced rutting and transverse cracking. Traffic level is a main factor for the effectiveness of treatments on roughness, longitudinal cracking and alligator cracking. The effects of pre-treatment pavement condition on only roughness and rutting are significant. The proposed average increment indicator allows to assess the long-term effectiveness of PMTs and the influence of different factors.