2013 - India - Critical Review of Decision Models for PMS

A primary purpose of a pavement management system (PMS) is to provide information so that roadway  improvements can be priority ranked. Ideally, prioritization is a consistent and justifiable process. It should involve  minimizing life cycle costs subject to minimum levels of serviceability and budget constraints. Prioritization is a  complicated process that requires sound engineering judgment and a good understanding of local conditions.  Current fiscal crises and rising roadway improvement costs have made prioritization decisions more important than  ever. Priority analysis is a systematic process that determines the best ranking list of candidate sections for  maintenance based on specific criteria such as pavement condition, traffic level, pavement functions, etc. Various  methods are used for priority analysis ranging from simple listing based on engineering judgment to true  optimization based on mathematical formulations.

This paper examines theoretical and pragmatic problems surrounding the prioritization process. This study report a detailed review of various prioritization techniques and models developed for flexible pavements at global  level. This will help in evaluating the usefulness of the various models in some particular condition having the  similar prioritization parameters. A discussion on the limitations of the different models is also given in this study.