00372317

Component

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The 1968 projection of costs for maintaining the highway system in 1985 was $3.6 billion, but it was estimated that FY1980 costs exceeded $12 billion and are projected to reach nearly $20 billion by 1985. The recommendations from a 1975 Transportation Research Board (TRB) study of highway maintenance research needs were followed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in establishing its program, and considerable gains were made. The effort was not great enough, however, to offset the steady pattern of a deteriorating highway plant. The one significant hope to improve conditions in the immediate future is a massive maintenance R&D program and a greatly increased effectiveness in technology transfer. There are no R&D programs where the payoff will come more rapidly than in the maintenance field. To provide advice on the nature and extent of the highway maintenance R&D program that should be carried forward, FHWA contracted with TRB in 1979 to conduct a series of workshops leading to a recommended comprehensive program. The recommended five-year program calls for an investment of approximately $12 million in highway maintenance R&D through the joint efforts of FHWA and other appropriate federal agencies, state departments of transportation, and local governments. Highest priority should be directed to expediting and initiating a new, more effective program for R&D implementation and technology transfer for highway maintenance. FHWA should provide leadership to develop combined efforts and pooled funding on regional or other local bases to address problems that were not included in the $12 million program.

Final Rpt.

DOT-FH-11-9636

p. 1-24

1981-5

Transportation Research Board Unpublished Report

Appendices (5)

Highway maintenance; Local government; Maintenance management; Research; State departments of transportation; Technology transfer; Workshops

U.S. Federal Highway Administration

Maintenance costs

Education and Training; Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Research

TRIS, TRB

May 31 1983 12:00AM

• A LOOK AT THE FUTURE
• BASIC FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE MAINTENANCE RESEARCH
• MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT IN THE ENLIGHTENED 1980S
• THE LAST ROSE OF SUMMER
• THE VIEW FROM THE COUNTY