01518747

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2455-03

With the increase in material and labor costs and the decrease in purchasing power, the Texas Department of Transportation (DOT) is striving to maintain its roadways at the current level of conditions within a severely constrained budget. In particular, maintaining adequate pavement skid resistance has become a challenge for decision makers at various levels. The goal of this study was to develop a methodological procedure that could be used to establish the appropriate threshold values for skid resistance so that safety would not be compromised on Texas highways when there is a budget shortfall. The two primary issues were to be addressed: (a) identification of the quantitative relationship between pavement skid resistance and crash rates and (b) determination of threshold values for skid resistance and corresponding recommendations for maintenance decisions. A detailed methodological framework was proposed. Highway segments were categorized into homogenous groups of safety-related characteristics, except skid resistance. The quantitative relationship between crash risks and skid resistance was then established with the concept of the crash rate ratio. Three threshold values were determined to establish four decision categories of skid resistance values, with crash and skid resistance data collected from 2008 to 2011 on the highway system maintained by the Texas DOT. Corresponding recommendations on maintenance decisions were provided. The results show that the proposed methodological procedure can effectively capture the safety impacts of skid resistance at the network level and provide a useful tool for the Texas DOT to take safety into its maintenance decision-making processes.

01555808

14-3073

English

pp 19–27

2014

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309295482

Print

Figures (6) ; References (14) ; Tables (2)

Crash rates; Decision making; Pavement maintenance; Pavement management systems; Recommendations; Skid resistance

Texas Department of Transportation

Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; Safety and Human Factors; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods; I81: Accident Statistics

PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 27 2014 3:03PM

• Aggregating and Modeling Automated Pavement Condition Survey Data for Flexible Pavements for Use in Pavement Management
• Calibration and Validation of Condition Indicator for Managing Urban Pavement Networks
• Estimating Vehicle Operating Costs Caused by Pavement Surface Conditions
• Florida’s Return on Investment from Pavement Research and Development
• Investigating Consistency in Highway Performance Monitoring System and Pavement Management Reporting
• Probabilistic Life-Cycle Assessment as Network-Level Evaluation Tool for Use and Maintenance Phases of Pavements
• Safety Impact of Pavement Conditions
• Use of Finite Element Analysis and Fatigue Failure Model to Estimate Costs of Pavement Damage Caused by Heavy Vehicles
• Use of System Dynamics to Understand Long-Term Impact of Climate Change on Pavement Performance and Maintenance Cost