An Iterative Approach for the Optimization of Pavement Maintenance Management at the Network Level

TLDR

Pavement maintenance is a critical public agency issue, where limited investment and budget constraints make optimal resource allocation essential; existing sequential and holistic approaches, along with various optimization methods, differ in alternative scope and selection processes, requiring prior understanding to choose the most suitable strategy. This study aims to guide highway agencies, researchers, and practitioners on when and how to apply available methods through a comparative analysis of current practice. The authors propose and apply an iterative approach that combines the strengths of traditional sequential and holistic methods in a case study. The study defines scenarios indicating when each approach is suitable and shows that the proposed iterative method captures overall network condition more simply and intuitively than the holistic approach.

Abstract

Pavement maintenance is one of the major issues of public agencies. Insufficient investment or inefficient maintenance strategies lead to high economic expenses in the long term. Under budgetary restrictions, the optimal allocation of resources becomes a crucial aspect. Two traditional approaches (sequential and holistic) and four classes of optimization methods (selection based on ranking, mathematical optimization, near optimization, and other methods) have been applied to solve this problem. They vary in the number of alternatives considered and how the selection process is performed. Therefore, a previous understanding of the problem is mandatory to identify the most suitable approach and method for a particular network. This study aims to assist highway agencies, researchers, and practitioners on when and how to apply available methods based on a comparative analysis of the current state of the practice. Holistic approach tackles the problem considering the overall network condition, while the sequential approach is easier to implement and understand, but may lead to solutions far from optimal. Scenarios defining the suitability of these approaches are defined. Finally, an iterative approach gathering the advantages of traditional approaches is proposed and applied in a case study. The proposed approach considers the overall network condition in a simpler and more intuitive manner than the holistic approach.