Maintenance, rehabilitation and pavement life

Each pavement is designed to last a certain number of years (design life). On the date of opening to traffic, the pavement offers the highest level of service. Soon, the detrimental effect of traffic and environment results in a continuous decrease of the pavement s level of service. If the pavement is to reach the design life providing all the time an acceptable level of service, periodic maintenance needs to be carried out. 

The time and frequency of pavement maintenance vary depending primarily on the surfacing material used, quality of construction achieved and the traffic volume. 

Under normal circumstances, when proper materials were used, quality construction was very good, and for a medium/high level of traffic, the first pavement surface maintenance usually appears within the first 8 to 12 years after construction. 

Theoretically, the time for rehabilitation is towards the end of the pavement s design life. How close it is towards the end is difficult to determine since a number of factors (such as 

One way to determine the rehabilitation time is by monitoring the provided level of service related to some surface distresses, mainly transversal/longitudinal evenness and cracking. Another way is by structural evaluation survey of the pavement. 

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