HighLight Heading
June 2002
Maintenance program reduces future costs
Dan Wegman of Koch Pavement Solutions discussed preventive maintenance surface treatments in a session titled "Advancements in Maintenance and Preservation." He began by noting how research conducted under the federal Strategic Highway Research Program (a five-year, $150-million initiative) found that stop-and-go congestion puts more stresses on roadways, which leads to quicker pavement failures.
So how can pavement managers maintain and improve roadway conditions in times of congestion and tight funding? One approach is to conduct a pavement preservation program, using techniques such as seal coats. The cost of not spending money on pavement maintenance is impressive—for each dollar spent on preservation, Wegman said, three to ten dollars are saved in future rehabilitation and reconstruction costs.
Many technical components are necessary for a pavement preservation program to succeed, but Wegman said two non-technical aspects are key: commitment by top agency management, and a public education campaign. The latter is important to counter public perception and communicate with citizens who will ask, "why fix a good road when there are so many bad ones?"