An integration of the condition-based treatment trigger policy into the network-level work programming problem for pavement assets

Menna Noureldin, Purdue University

Abstract

Highway assets are a vital public infrastructure that contribute to economic development and societal welfare. In an era of increased consumer and commercial demands placed on the highway system and decreasing available funds for system improvement, agencies must pursue different strategies to fulfill their central mission of maintaining roads in good condition cost-effectively. Modifying the treatment trigger policy, which specifies the condition level at which a section can be considered for potential implementation of a treatment of a certain strength, is a strategy whose potential was explored in this dissertation. Optimal work programs were developed for the Indiana National Highway System under each of five different treatment trigger policies. The long-term outcomes of the work programs were evaluated both in terms of the agency expenditure needed with each treatment trigger policy to obtain the same network service life and the percentage of network service life obtained at a certain agency expenditure compared to a base treatment trigger policy. Furthermore, network condition models were estimated to demonstrate the comparative performance of different treatment trigger policies in terms of how they affect the efficiency of the agency expenditure in improving the network condition in the short term. It was found that the treatment trigger policy can be leveraged to enhance network condition. A new formulation for the optimal work programming problem, one that integrates the treatment trigger policy, was therefore justified for pavement assets. This research introduces a new vein of investigation for strategic asset management that is expected to be utilized by agencies and extended by researchers in the future.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Sinha, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Civil engineering|Transportation planning

COinS