The overall project objective is to outline an advanced pavement management procedure for asphalt road pavements. Research focuses on the integration of structural parameters and of structural pavement deterioration models in pavement performance prediction accomplished in the frame of pavement management systems (PMS). This shall significantly improve the selection process for maintenance strategies within PMS as well as asphalt pavement design.

Based on performance studies and material investigations on motorway test sections, it is demonstrated, how material-science based parameters can be integrated into the process of performance prediction.

To date, most PMS are based on empiric deterioration models, which do not take into account specific material properties. Maintenance decisions are based on general performance models. Hence, specific choice of material properties, e. g. due to optimized mix design or use of alternative materials, does not affect the results displayed by PMS. Thus, it is impossible to judge specific material settings used for maintenance strategies.

In this project, a procedure shall be drafted that enables impartial management decisions based on comprehensible choice of materials, and of construction and maintenance procedures. New innovative approaches for PMS solutions in relation to the state-of-the-art shall be developed. Inter alia, this project meets research needs for

• specifying performance models based on material characteristics and structural data,
• incorporating structural parameters in probabilistic performance prediction models,
• employing enhanced structural probabilistic prediction models in PMS,
• and validating probabilistic models and advanced PMS tools on structural data from a test section.