What is the best way to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime?

1 Pavement design

The first step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to design the pavement structure and materials according to the expected traffic, environmental, and loading conditions. This involves selecting the appropriate pavement type (flexible, rigid, or composite), layer thicknesses, and material properties (such as strength, stiffness, durability, and friction). The pavement design should also consider the life-cycle cost analysis, which compares the initial construction cost with the future maintenance and rehabilitation costs over the pavement's service life. The pavement design should follow the relevant specifications and guidelines from the local or national authorities, as well as the best practices from the industry and academia.

2 Pavement construction

The second step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to construct the pavement according to the design specifications and quality standards. This involves ensuring that the pavement materials are properly mixed, transported, placed, compacted, and cured, using the appropriate equipment and methods. The pavement construction should also follow the quality control and quality assurance procedures, which involve testing and inspecting the pavement materials and structure during and after the construction process. The pavement construction should avoid any defects or errors that could compromise the pavement performance and durability, such as cracks, ruts, potholes, or segregation.

3 Pavement maintenance

The third step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to maintain the pavement regularly and proactively, to prevent or delay the deterioration and damage caused by traffic, weather, and aging. This involves performing routine maintenance activities, such as sweeping, cleaning, sealing, patching, or marking, to preserve the pavement condition and functionality. The pavement maintenance should also include periodic inspections and evaluations, using visual or automated methods, to assess the pavement distresses and performance indicators, such as roughness, skid resistance, or structural capacity. The pavement maintenance should follow the pavement management system, which is a tool that helps to prioritize and optimize the maintenance decisions and actions based on the pavement condition and budget.

4 Pavement rehabilitation

The fourth step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to rehabilitate the pavement when the maintenance activities are no longer sufficient or effective to restore the pavement condition and performance. This involves performing major repairs or improvements, such as milling, overlaying, recycling, or reconstruction, to extend the pavement service life and enhance the pavement functionality. The pavement rehabilitation should also consider the environmental and social impacts, such as the greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, traffic disruption, or user satisfaction, associated with the rehabilitation options. The pavement rehabilitation should follow the engineering and economic analysis, which evaluates the technical feasibility and cost-benefit ratio of the rehabilitation alternatives.

5 Pavement innovation

The fifth step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to innovate and adopt new technologies and solutions that can improve the pavement design, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation processes. This involves exploring and implementing new pavement materials, methods, or systems that can offer better performance, durability, sustainability, or resilience than the conventional ones. For example, some of the emerging pavement innovations include smart pavements, self-healing pavements, recycled pavements, permeable pavements, or solar pavements. The pavement innovation should also involve the collaboration and communication among the pavement stakeholders, such as the owners, engineers, contractors, suppliers, researchers, or users, to share the knowledge, experience, and feedback on the pavement innovations.

6 Pavement education

The sixth and final step to ensure a cost-effective pavement lifetime is to educate and train the pavement professionals and users on the best practices and strategies to design, construct, maintain, and rehabilitate pavements. This involves providing and updating the pavement knowledge, skills, and competencies through various learning platforms and resources, such as courses, workshops, webinars, books, journals, or websites. The pavement education should also promote the awareness and appreciation of the pavement benefits and challenges among the pavement users and the general public, through various outreach and engagement activities, such as campaigns, events, or exhibitions. The pavement education should aim to foster a pavement culture that values and supports the pavement quality and longevity.