SWUTC Research Project Description
Title of Project: Develop a System to Support Preparation of Life-Cycle Budget Needs for Highways
Project Number: 167277
Principal Investigator:
Zhanmin Zhang
(512) 471-4534
P.I. Affiliation: University of Texas at Austin
Project Monitor:
Michael Murphy
Texas Department of Transportation
(512) 465-3686
Project Status: Active
Date Started: 9/1/07
Estimation Completion Date: 8/31/08
Estimated Cost - Current Fiscal: $40,000
Estimated Cost - Total Planned: $40,000
Project Summary:
Project Abstract:
Budget planning is important to managing highways. Ideally, the budget planning process can be streamlined by a procedure that would facilitate life-cycle budget needs analysis for highway sections from fence to fence, where the total budget needs would be the summation of the needs for all highway sections under consideration. While some of the elements are maintained with a fixed maintenance schedule, others may require maintenance programming based on the desired level of performance during the life cycle. The latter is particularly true for highway pavements. In addition, risk-cost is of great importance to the development of life-cycle budget needs. The objective of this project is to develop a practical methodology to support highway life-cycle budget needs over the planning horizon.
Project Objectives:
The objective of this proposed research is to develop practical algorithms and procedures that can be implemented and used by state DOTs in support of their decision making in budget planning and budget allocation by capitalizing on what has been accomplished in this area by researchers over the years. The focus of the research is to produce algorithms, procedures, and processes that can be implemented with a typical size of pavement network, and practically used by a typical state DOT.
Task Descriptions:
Task 1. Define M&R Strategies and Associated Unit Costs
As the first task, viable M&R strategies will be defined for budget planning and budge allocation purpose at the network level. A key consideration for developing these strategies is that the number of such strategies should be neither too small nor too large. If too many strategies are used, it will be inefficient when being applied at the network level, whereas if an inadequate number of strategies is assumed, the analysis output will be insensitive to the change of the strategies. In addition, unit costs for the defined strategies will be developed through existing literature and other existing bodies of knowledge.
Task 2. Quantify the Effect of M&R Strategies
To conduct budget planning and allocation, the effects of M&R strategies have to be quantified and included in the analysis. While it is not easy to quantify the exact effect of an M&R strategy, statistical techniques will be employed to conduct such analysis with historical data, in addition to acquiring expert opinions from those who have practical experience in pavement engineering.
Task 3. Calibrate the Performance Prediction Model
Considering the large number of sections in a pavement network, it is infeasible to have one model calibrated for each of the sections. A reasonable approach is to divide the pavement sections in a network into groups according to the type of pavements and the levels of traffic in terms of ESALs, so that one model can be calibrated for each group. The calibration will start with determining the levels of traffic to be used and how many types of pavements to be considered. Then, data from the TxDOT PMIS will be used to conduct the calibration.
Task 4. Develop a Computer Program to Demonstrate the Usage of the Developed Algorithms and Procedures
In order to demonstrate how the developed algorithms and procedures can be used to solve engineering problem, a computer program will be developed to demonstrate the key features. The computer program will provide functionalities that will allow engineers to conduct “what-if” analyses of various budget planning and allocation needs for managing a pavement network cost-effectively over a selected time horizon.
Task 5. Prepare Project Reports
The researcher will make every effort to document progress of the work throughout the project. A Research Report which completely documents the research performed, method used, and results achieved will be prepared at the end of the project.
Index Terms:
Budget Planning; Risk Cost; Pavement Management; Life-Cycle Costs; Maintenance Programming