RMIc-3.0 Program Development to Prioritize Concrete Pavement Sections for Large-scale Repair Works

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Large-scale repair works (LSRW) are expensive and time-consuming, and therefore cannot be carried out simultaneously for all deteriorated pavements; hence, they are performed based on urgency. In Korea, the re-modeling index (RMI) program versions 1.0 and 2.0 were developed to predict the urgency of the LSRW on expressway concrete pavements. In this study, version 3.0 of the RMI program was developed to address the drawbacks found in version 2.0 of the program. The model used in the program was improved by using the equivalent single-axle load instead of the annual average daily traffic used in the previous version, to consider the damage to pavement caused by heavy vehicles. In addition, another model was modified by combining the winter climate conditions with the annual deicing salt usage, which was used as the only variable considering the environmental factors in the previous version. The international roughness index and surface distress prediction models, which were not separated by pavement type in version 2.0 of the program, were separated into jointed concrete pavement and continuously reinforced concrete pavement. The logic for predicting future RMI was also reasonably improved. In addition, the logic of categorizing the entire expressway concrete pavement section into homogeneous sections was objectively improved for more effective LSRW. Consequently, for 2023, the Korea Expressway Corporation selected for LSRW those homogeneous sections that were evaluated as urgent by the RMI3.0 program.