Citation

Thriscutt HS. Proc. IRCOBI 1975; 3: 125-131.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1975, International Research Council on Biomechanics of Injury)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This report presents the case for highway maintenance, outlines a scheme for preventive maintenance, comments on work methods, describes the assessment of the economic level of maintenance, and discusses the implementation of the maintenance program. Ideally, all maintenance should be preventive and designed to take place just before failure could occur. Attempts should be made to forecast when and where repairs will be necessary. To do this, the engineer must have a reasonable amount of traffic data including axle load surveys, soils and materials information and a highway inventory which gives the construction and past history of the routes. Before a budget estimate is made, it is necessary to investigate work methods and to check that the scale of maintenance proposed is appropriate to the need. The special conditions in developing countries are noted. In order to assess the benefits of maintenance, it is necessary to determine changes in vehicle operating costs brought about by relatively small alterations in road conditions due to differing standards of maintenance. A comparison of the results of analyses for various traffic levels will show the best economic course of action.