November, 2003 Partner Feature Foundation for Pavement Preservation

Quality “P2”

Pavement Preservation: Right Treatment, Right Road, Right Time

by Bill Ballou, President, Foundation for Pavement Preservation

When Leo Durocher was manager of the Dodgers, he pulled a pitcher out in the 8th inning of a close game. When a reporter questioned the decision, Durocher said, "Baseball is like church. Many attend. Few understand."

Outside an inner circle in the highway industry, the same might be said of pavement preservation (P2). Why? In part because "keeping good roads good" can take a back seat to crumbling infrastructure when it comes to public funding. In addition, pavement preservation as a subset of asset management isn't always self-evident.

Increasing the understanding of "quality P2" on the part of the public and policymakers is a goal of the Foundation for Pavement Preservation (FP2) and of the National Partnership for Highway Quality (NPHQ.) We have miles to go, but through the dedication of highway leaders, are definitely picking up speed. As Charlie Brown said of the Peanuts team, "It's awesome to bear the burden of permanent potential."

The Team and FP2

The Foundation for Pavement Preservation is a stakeholder in a P2 sphere that includes the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), roadway and engineering associations, suppliers, contractors, and academics. Many of us belong to the National Partnership for Highway Quality, which also places a premium on P2 research, development, technology, and implementation. Bob Templeton, P.E., NPHQ's Executive Director, recently distilled the quality core of pavement preservation: "It's a tool that promotes highway quality and customer service. Pavement preservation work is much less disruptive to highway users, and wrings more life out of pavements. This, in turn, leverages the project investment into much longer life."

Not coincidentally, NPHQ and FP2 were both founded 11 years ago with corollary purposes: NPHQ to promote quality practices for highways that operate at peak performance, and FP2 to advance the expertise of agencies trying to manage an aging system of concrete and asphalt that was well past its design life in terms of traffic loadings and years of service. Each signaled that the highway quality movement had kicked into full gear. The movement's premise: roadway users want mobility. Mobility is fundamental to business and borderless communities, and better highway quality, as promoted by NPHQ and FP2, is aimed at improving that mobility.

Under the quality umbrella, the Foundation for Pavement Preservation provides resources, research, technical support and education to highway agencies that are starting or sustaining pavement preservation programs. The non-profit's resources help define the right treatment for the right road at the right time to enrich travel and avoid costly roadway reconstruction. (For more information, visit www.fp2.org)

The System

Because of the money and miles wrapped up in the nation's highway system, it's useful to look at pavement preservation's potential for saving tax dollars while promoting safer, smoother roads for the customer.

Thousands of companies and agencies are engaged in the business of preserving and maintaining the nation's roads and highways – a universe of almost 4 million miles of roadway valued at over $1.75 trillion. The FHWA points out that the 43,500 miles of the nation's interstate highway system cost more than $129 billion to construct. Add to that the cost to build and maintain the more than 3,700,000 miles of state and local roadways, and you have one of the largest infrastructure investments in U.S. history. Pavement or road surfaces represent the largest single share of transportation investment; 40% or more of the public funds spent on highways are spent on road surfaces.

The enormity of this stewardship responsibility, and the logic of infusing quality practices into the mix, sparked a conversion not long ago from the concept of "system maintenance" to "system preservation." The shift makes great sense when you consider that a dollar spent on preventive maintenance saves 3 to 10 dollars in future rehabilitation, according to a report by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program.

System Preservation

As an element of system preservation, which is the hallmark of all future highway programs, P2 protects the nation’s highway investment. P2 is the timely application of appropriate surface treatments to maintain or extend a pavement's service life. It does not encompass new or reconstructed pavements or increase the structural capacity of those already out there. Its bailiwick is the use of techniques like thin hot-mix asphalt inlays and overlays, fog seals, slurry seals, crack sealing and surface recycling for flexible pavements. Concrete roadway treatments can include crack sealing, retrofit dowel bars, partial depth repairs, and diamond grinding.

The idea is to apply treatments when the pavement is still in good condition; once there's structural damage, a preventive maintenance treatment won't work. It's not "worst first." It's staying ahead of the curve before the worst case sneaks up. The use of preservation treatments can extend the life of a structurally sound pavement by 5 to 10 years.

P2 and Asset Management

Pavement preservation is an applied asset management concept. Asset management is itself a relatively new method of managing the highway business through a systematic process of maintaining, upgrading, and operating physical assets cost-effectively. It combines engineering principles with sound business practices, economic theory, and decision-making tools. Asset management serves as a framework for short-and long-range planning to deliver better mobility, fewer traffic jams, and a better overall quality of ride to drivers. In this context, pavement preservation ranks with design, construction, maintenance, and operation in terms of resource and quality management decisions.

Sounds good, so P2 programs should abound among transportation owner agencies, right? That's where money comes in. In the big picture, of course, transportation competes with other public sector programs like defense, security, health, education and others entwined in the Gordian Knot of the federal budget. In the local picture, preservation often competes with other maintenance projects for funding.

The more folks become educated as to the quality merits of P2, the more likely pavement preservation can make up the difference between what's necessary and what's affordable. P2 promotes a steady state and saves money through continual correction of deterioration from traffic and the environment.

Good News

Fortunately a lot is happening on the P2 front these days, which should boost awareness and interest in the process. Viewing pavement preservation as an asset management step is a leap in and of itself. Other noteworthy advances include the creation of the long-awaited National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP) at Michigan State University; state-of-the-art research and collaborations; and results from successful systematic preservation programs.

The new National Center for Pavement Preservation, one-of-a-kind in the world, was envisioned a decade ago as a quality action step to help manage that $1.75 trillion taxpayer investment mentioned earlier. The grand opening was on October 17, and the Center is set to extend the P2 reach to transportation owner agencies and beyond. It specializes in training, outreach and technical support for every level of government, academics, highway contractors; corporations, consultants and others in the field.
It can also administer pooled-fund studies, such as ongoing sealer/binder research. Many states have money for research, but lack the staff to coordinate and administer a study, which is a must for pooled fund studies.

Continuing education credits are possible through Michigan State (Big Ten!) for some NCPP courses, and Director Larry Galehouse, P.E., can tailor courses to specific needs. The Center is located in MSU's Engineering Research Facility just off campus in Okemos, Michigan. The web address is www.pavementpreservation.org and the phone number is (517) 432-8220.

As with most quality endeavors, a public and private partnering anchored this quasi-governmental Center. The Foundation for Pavement Preservation joined forces with the FHWA, AASHTO, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Michigan State University, the state legislature, and generous paving contractors, recycling contractors, and asphalt manufacturers. We all know there are three ways to get something done: hire somebody, do it yourself, or forbid your kids to do it. Turns out in this business there's a fourth: partner with other can-do professionals committed to highway quality.

Good Ideas

These days some serious brainpower is being directed to increasing the amount of data and knowledge about pavement preservation. A few examples:

• AASHTO's Subcommittee on Maintenance, the FHWA Pavement Preservation Expert Task Force, the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and the Foundation for Pavement Preservation are engaged in research and knowledge-sharing on multiple fronts.
• The TRB is looking at tools for assessing pavement preservation options and choosing the best solutions for a given roadway. Plans are being developed to form a Pavement Preservation Task Force before the 2004 TRB annual meeting.
• FP2, with the help of the FHWA, eight state departments of transportation, and industry, has released an updated CD with over 50 technical documents to help agencies set up or improve pavement preservation programs. The CD Pavement Preservation 2: State of the Practice, can be ordered at www.fp2.org. It augments an existing Pavement Preservation Toolbox of videos, CDs, reports and brochures available from the Foundation for Pavement Preservation.
• Ongoing research is exploring improved standardization of mix designs and test procedures for P2 treatments; cost-effective preservation campaigns for the future; and guidelines for performance expectations.

It Works

In addition to mentioning these ongoing initiatives, it may be instructive to close with some documented improvements. Just a few instances will shed some light.

• The Michigan Department of Transportation's Capital Preventive Maintenance Program has grown from $6 million a year in 1992 to $73.5 million this year for preservation. MDOT reports a more than 6:1 rate of return on investment, depending on the mix of treatment fixes. The DOT consistency evaluates the program to assure they get the best bang for the buck.
• The Washington Department of Transportation strives to achieve a system wide rate of 75% of pavements in good condition and 25% in fair condition. When the state’s pavement management system was implemented in 1969, nearly 20% of mileage was in poor to very poor condition and less than 50% was in good condition. Time and best maintenance practices brought the Washington roadway system to new heights: 70% in good condition, less than 10% in poor condition.
• Oregon's highway system went from about 50% fair or better in 1976 to nearly 80% fair or better in 1997. This was due in large part to the implementation of pavement management activities and a focus on the need to address pavement preservation.

California, Montana, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island all have implemented pavement preservation programs; Mississippi, Ohio, Alabama, South Carolina, Illinois, North Dakota and Colorado are looking into setting theirs up. We're seeing more workshops and executive conferences with agency peer contact, with states learning from each other.

Looking Ahead

Exciting times; of course it will take many more years of investment, training, best practice-sharing, and innovation to consistently deliver to the driving public the right treatment to the right highway at the right time. The good news: the right institutions, like the National Center for Pavement Preservation, are in place. And the right partnerships, like Foundation for Pavement Preservation and the National Partnership for Highway Quality, are planting the right seeds for future developments.

A vision of quality for the future roadway is the bottom line of all pavement preservation efforts. President Kennedy used to tell of a retired French general, a cultured man with a sense of history whose hobby was gardening. On his 80th birthday he bought a small shrub and instructed his gardener to plant it in the garden. "But Sir," the gardener objected. "That plant won't flower for a hundred years." "Then by all means," the general said, "Plant it now."

It will take time for our efforts to produce optimum highway quality nationwide. That's why NPHQ and FP2 are busy planting the seeds of quality today.

back to Press Resources