Arizona Airport Pavement Management

Abstract

Pavements represent one of the largest capital investments in Arizona’s aviation system. Recognizing a need to protect this critical investment, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) established a statewide airport pavement management system (APMS) in 2000 to monitor the condition of the Arizona airport infrastructure and to proactively plan for its preservation; this APMS has been periodically updated since that time. In conjunction with the APMS implementation, Arizona instituted an Airport Pavement Preservation Program (APPP). Through this project, ADOT takes advantage of economies of scale to conduct crack sealing, surface treatments, joint resealing and spall repair, thin overlays, and porous frictions courses on a statewide level. The ADOT APMS was updated in 2003, 2006, and 2010, each time based on an evaluation of pavement conditions throughout the state. The overall condition of the pavement system showed improvement from 2000 through 2006, a period during which the APPP was established and aggressively funded and applied. However, the 2010 evaluation showed a significant drop in pavement condition. Further examination revealed a direct correlation between this deterioration and a lack of funding for the APPP due to budget cuts from 2007 through 2010. This paper provides a case study of the ADOT APMS, and, using data collected over the past decade shows, the impact that a pavement preservation program developed and monitored using an effective APMS has on the condition of the pavement infrastructure. It explores the funding expended on pavement preservation and the impact of preservation on pavement condition. It illustrates with actual data the importance of pavement preservation, and how delaying or completely foregoing this type of work can adversely affect a pavement system.