Network-level optimization method for road network maintenance programming based on network efficiency

Abstract

To maintain their capacity, transportation infrastructures are in need of regular maintenance and rehabilitation. The major challenge facing transportation engineers is the network-level policies to maintain the deteriorating roads at an acceptable level of serviceability. In this work, a quantitative transportation network efficiency measure is presented and then how to determine optimally network-level road maintenance policy depending on the road importance to the network performance has been demonstrated. The examples show that the different roads should be set different maintenance time points in terms of the retention capacities of the roads, because the different roads play different roles in network and have different important degrees to the network performance. This network-level road maintenance optimization method could not only save lots of infrastructure investments, but also ensure the service level of the existing transportation system.