Process for Selecting Strategies for Rehabilitation of Rigid Pavements Under High Traffic Volumes

Abstract

Many highway facilities are experiencing rapid deterioration because of high traffic volumes and service lives that have been extended beyond the facility design life. State highway agencies (SHAs) are under pressure to mitigate the resulting poor pavement conditions through maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction (MRR) work while accelerating construction, minimizing traffic disruption, reducing accident risk, and improving public acceptance. SHAs have a range of engineering processes for pavement analysis and design. These pavement-related processes focus on pavement condition and the causes of pavement distresses to identify appropriate pavement treatments. Pavement-related processes determine what is done. Traffic and construction management processes, which are non-pavement-related processes, are also commonly considered to identify how the pavement treatment is accomplished. Little information is available on how to integrate these non-pavement-related processes into the MRR strategy selection process for rigid pavements. A process that integrates both the pavement-related and the non-pavement-related aspects of MRR strategy selection is described. A framework that provides the basis for a review of the literature and the collection of data on current practices is presented. A process modeling technique is used to develop details of the selection process. Case studies were developed by using four projects to validate the process. Practical illustrations from case study projects that demonstrate several key steps of the process with respect to traffic- and construction-related issues that influence selection of the most appropriate MRR strategy for rigid pavements under high traffic volumes are presented.