Marana’s Pavement Preservation Program was designed to give Marana great roads. There is a lot to the program, from what the program hopes to accomplish, what methods are utilized, and how the roads are selected for repair. In this multi-part series, we will look at all aspects of the program. Part 2 looks at how the Town rates the roads and figures out which projects become a priority.
A Look At Pavement Preservation, Pt. 1
The key to implementing preventive maintenance techniques and maintaining a pavement management program is developing and maintaining an inventory of pavement condition and quantity. In Marana, streets are broken into segments and staff survey the same locations on a biennial basis, counting cracks and deficiencies as identified in the Federal Highway Administration's Pavement Distress Identification Manual. We compare scores of the current assessment to those of prior assessments to determine the rate of deterioration.
Information is also collected from the Pima Association of Governments-sponsored Automated Road Analyzer (ARAN) van to rate the condition of Town arterial and collector streets. Data is combined with the Town’s pavement preservation program findings to determine the condition of the streets, the degree of need for repair, and the type of repair that is most appropriate. The most cost-effective solution is then selected for each street.
The Pavement Condition Index, developed by the Army Corps of Engineers, is generally accepted as the industry standard for scoring pavement condition. It provides a rational basis, calculating deterioration rate and deterioration modeling. The data can be used in conjunction with a pavement management program to develop a plan for pavement preservation, proactive maintenance, and rehabilitation.
Most of Marana's pavements receive some form of preventive maintenance based upon a general timeframe, but as the ability to rate and analyze pavement gets better, we will prioritize maintenance based more on pavement condition and construction type rather than just the elapsed time between treatments.
