Pavement Preservation Strategy

An effective pavement management system requires a comprehensive pavement preservation strategy (PPS). Wisconsin’s PPS is guided by a philosophy whose goal is to optimize pavement performance to provide the highest quality service to the customer per unit of expenditure. The PPS is customer-oriented and views “service” in terms of user comfort, convenience, and safety. The strategy is broad-scoped and considers all pavement management activities, from “do nothing” to reconstruction. Wisconsin’s PPS has program values that are based on solid research that has been field verified. The treatment alternatives recommended for any particular pavement problem address the causes, not the symptoms, of that particular problem—thus, the root cause of the problem is addressed, and funds are not used to treat merely a symptom. Accordingly, the PPS is termed a cause-based instead of a schedule-based strategy (applying treatments on a predetermined schedule), or a “worst first” strategy (treating the worst pavements first). The PPS follows a logical progression through a series of evaluations to convert a set of raw, field-collected data (ride and distress) to, ultimately, a set of recommended actions. The process moves from raw data to an evaluation of the level of the distress. Combinations of distress levels are used to identify specific pavement problems. In turn, these pavement problems are evaluated as a family to generate appropriate, cost-beneficial solutions.