Financial Consequences of Delaying Pavement Rehabilitation: Case Study Using LTPP Data

Abstract

Transportation agencies have suffered stringent funding shortages for the past several years. As a result, many pavement preservation and rehabilitation projects have been substantially delayed. The financial consequences of delaying pavement rehabilitation need to be quantified so funding needs can be justified scientifically. Although studies on the basis of hypothetical data have been conducted to evaluate the effect of delaying treatments, there is no research using actual data to quantify the financial consequences of delaying pavement rehabilitation. This study is motivated by the need to remedy this situation. A method that quantifies the financial consequences of delaying rehabilitation using real-world data is proposed. The proposed method uses life-cycle-cost analysis (LCCA) and a composite performance indicator, pavement condition rating (PCR), to determine the treatment timing. The proposed method is validated using actual pavement performance data and maintenance history from the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) specific pavement studies-5 (SPS-5) in California. These pavement sections have the same pavement structure, traffic volume, environmental features, and similar rehabilitation treatments, but they have different treatment timings. Their annual life-cycle costs are computed and compared to quantitatively evaluate the financial consequences of delaying treatment. Preliminary results show that delaying rehabilitation of pavement sections (prerehabilitation PCR value<60) increases the equivalent uniform annualized cost (EUAC) by approximately 27.7% for a 2-in. overlay and 28.3% for a 5-in. overlay compared with the timely rehabilitation of pavement sections. Future research is also discussed in this paper.