Overview
Systematic action planning is a central and crucial process within the management of road maintenance. It demonstrates for a given observation period at what time which
interventions for road maintenance are to be performed in order to attain the best costbenefit ratio with the given financial resources. The fundamentals for this planning and
optimising task have been compiled for Switzerland within the research package VSS 2004/710-716.
The research project has the following goals:
• Development of performance curves (shape and cyclic development) for structural surface distress, roughness, rutting, skid resistance and bearing capacity in relation to traffic loads and local influencing factors for different standardised maintenance and rehabilitation treatments.
• Preparation of a draft standard.
Funding
Results
Project 2 VSS 2004/712 “Pavement damage processes and performance curves“ – with inclusion of VSS 2004/716 – delivers performance curves indicating the development of damage for a number of defined road surface attributes in relation to service life.
The report deals in detail with the subject of the performance of pavements from two different points of view. A first approach covers the description of different damage processes in dependence both from the design of the pavement and from different other causes; this includes also the discussion of early damage appearances due to poor quality of the materials used or to poor quality of construction work (spreading and compacting).
The second and main approach relates to the development of different sets of performance curve for asphalt pavements for communal, cantonal and national roads by means of an empirical solution.
The results of different previous studies on performance models conducted in Switzerland are described in detail in the report. The international literature survey focuses on one side on the overview off all the contributions to the subjects presented at international conferences and on the other side on the individual presentation of some reports of specific interest.