Pavement management system: implementing project evaluation for local road administrations

Pavement Management System (PMS) is widely used by highway and airport administrations for the rational managing of pavement networks and for identifying cost-effective maintenance strategies. Local Road Administrations (LRA) need the implementation of PMS due to the limited financial, technology and specialised human resources. To lead the LRA to a more conscious and effective use of PMS, tailored procedures and tools have to be defined considering their own potentiality and requirements. For this purpose, the Geographic Information System (GIS) can be implemented, which facilitates the collection, management and analysis of road inventory and monitoring data. GIS allows to easily display on a thematic map a wide set of geographically referenced information and to relate them with spatial and data management tools. Furthermore, customised GISbased tools can be created to enhance pavement management and to assist the decision-making phase. This paper shows how the implementation of the project evaluation phase in a tailored PMS for several local road administrations in the center of Italy, in order to support maintenance planning and to identify the effective maintenance strategies in a long-term perspective. The process is based upon a systematically and progressive application of interconnected activities, which are supported by reference documentations and specific GIS tools. Specific GIS-based tools were developed for the set-up of road database, prioritisation, selection of properly repairs and maintenance planning. To achieve a more rational and objective maintenance planning assessments, alternative maintenance scenarios were defined using predictive models to estimate the evolution of pavement conditions over time. Long-term effectiveness of alternative maintenance strategies was established using a customised strategic index.