Optimizing highway maintenance operations: dynamic considerations

Abstract

Effective highway maintenance depends on several activities, including the understanding of current and the prediction of future pavement conditions and deciding how to best allocate limited resources for maintenance operations. In this paper, a dynamic micro-level simulation model of highway deterioration and renewal processes is presented. This model is calibrated with data from eight road sections in Virginia and is coupled with an optimization module that optimizes maintenance operations. The analysis offers alternative priority setting schemes that improves current maintenance practices at the project and network levels. This approach provides a blueprint for designing optimal highway maintenance practices.

Eliminating Overload Trucking via a Modal Shift to Achieve Intercity Freight Sustainability: A System Dynamics Approach

“…Shepherd [29] recently proposed a comprehensive review of SD models applied to transportation within the last twenty years. However, the literature applying SD to freight transportation focuses, respectively, on a single issue of sustainability, such as carbon emission [31][32][33], land use [34], pavement condition [7,35], traffic safety [36], and congestion [37,38], with little discussion on the integrated effects of the above-mentioned issues, namely, freight sustainability. Moreover, most existing literature does not consider the problem of overloaded trucking, except the research by Hang and Li [7], but the objective of this research is to investigate the impacts of overloaded trucking on transport and pavement maintenance costs, not on freight sustainability.…”

“…situation of delayed maintenance operations due to a budget shortfall [35] and assumes that maintenance operations initiated in a year can be accomplished within the year. (3) The model assumes that new vehicles are to be put into service instantly, without considering the delay in the processes of sales and delivery of the new vehicles.…”

“…(2) The model considers only highway pavement damage from heavy-duty trucks while neglecting that from small passenger cars because of the minor influences of passenger cars on highway pavement. Regarding the maintenance of infrastructures, the model excludes the situation of delayed maintenance operations due to a budget shortfall [35] and assumes that maintenance operations initiated in a year can be accomplished within the year. (3) The model assumes that new vehicles are to be put into service instantly, without considering the delay in the processes of sales and delivery of the new vehicles.…”

Computational Model for Allocating the Road Pavement Funds between Implementing Units: Case Study in Tanzania

“…The pitfall of budget cut off prioritization has been noted in some literature [1,12,13,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. However, priority ranking is still found near-optimal in utilization of available resources specifically scarce funding.…”

“…An effective highway maintenance depends on several activities including the understanding of the current and the prediction of future pavement condition and deciding how to best allocate limited resource for maintenance operation [1]. In order to best allocate limited fund, the road administrators are faced with a challenge of ensuring that the little available tax payers' money is effectively utilized to maintain the roads in order to serve the society and ensure that economic growth and well-being of the society are realized.…”