Roadway pavements and sidewalks represent the largest capital investment for most local agencies, and they require routine maintenance and rehabilitation over their service lives. As pavements and sidewalks age, the cost for rehabilitating them increases. Routine preventive maintenance can help extend the life of a pavement and reduce the overall life-cycle cost of the pavement, but preventive maintenance must be applied at the right time in a pavement’s service life to have the desired cost-saving effect. Sidewalks, on the other hand, are commonly managed from a safety perspective, and are rehabilitated only when “critical defects” are observed.
Routine condition assessments are needed for determining and prioritizing the type of timing of maintenance and rehabilitation activities for all pavements and sidewalks managed by an agency. The reality for most agencies, however, is that funding does not exist to address all pavement and sidewalk maintenance and rehabilitation needs. In addition to identifying the correct timing for preventive maintenance and rehabilitation, having a clear understanding of relative pavement conditions within a pavement and sidewalk network can help an agency better prioritize its finite maintenance and rehabilitation budget.