ANALYSIS OF HIGHWAY ROUTINE MAINTENANCE COSTS (PAVEMENT, MANAGEMENT, FUEL CONSUMPTION)
Abstract
This study was undertaken to analyze routine maintenance activity costs of the state highway system of Indiana. The study consisted of two major phases. The first phase included a detailed investigation of different resource needs (materials, labor, and equipment) of routine maintenance. A particular emphasis was given to the equipment fuel use in various routine maintenance activities. A comprehensive field survey was conducted to collect data related to equipment use and equipment fuel consumption. Fuel consumption rates were developed for different maintenance activity-equipment combinations in terms of number of gallons per production unit. The results of the first phase showed that the cost of equipment fuel use is, on the average, 12 to 15 percent of the total routine maintenance yearly expenditure. The second phase was focused on pavement maintenance, and this phase included: (i) development of a comprehensive data base that combines pavement maintenance information, climatic zone, traffic information, and pavement characteristics; (ii) development of pavement maintenance rates by highway system, by pavement type, and by climatic zone; (iii) analysis of labor, material, and total expenditure trends over the last four fiscal years; (iv) correlation analysis between yearly total expenditures and that between shares of different activities of total expenditures; and (v) analysis of the relationship between the level of pavement routine maintenance and pavement characteristics. Multiple regression was used to develop prediction models for total maintenance expenditure as well as for level of expenditure in maintenance groups of sealing and patching activities. Possible applications of the study results were illustrated through examples involving tradeoff between patching and sealing as well as between routine maintenance and resurfacing.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Civil engineering
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