PAVEMENT MANAGEMENT FOR RURAL ROADS

Abstract

India has embarked upon a new era in construction of rural roads by Pradhan Mantri Gram -Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). In India, mostly pavements are flexible in nature. Maintenance of flexible pavements is more difficult than rigid one as the surface of flexible pavement is affected by the atmospheric conditions more easily than rigid pavement. Pavement Management is widely accepted as a modern day necessity by the agencies in charge of maintenance of roads. The Pavement Management System has developed manifolds from a mere concept to reality in the last three decades. But many efforts are still required to be made for effective implementation of the PMS. With this background, in the present work, nineteen Test Sections are identified in the Hanamkonda division of Warangal district to carry out the study. Data collection involved Road Inventory Survey, Pavement Condition Survey and Traffic Volume Survey. Detailed data collection has been done on the selected Test Sections. With the data obtained detailed analysis has been conducted. PSI values have been calculated. Pavement serviceability models have been developed using the formulations of AASHO and CRRI models. After the identification of roads for maintenance, prioritization has been carried out to rank them based on the surface defects. For doing prioritization, two methods were adopted. They are the Index Ranking Method and Successive Subsetting Method. Pavements are ranked based on the composite index values obtained in the index method. In Successive Subsetting method they are grouped based on the selected factors and are ranked. Then the pavements are arranged in an order to determine the priority for maintenance. The maintenance measures required for the test sections have been determined based on the Rural Roads Manual. Also decision trees developed by the Oregon State University have been used to identify the type of maintenance measures based on the data collected from the field. The procedure to carry out the required maintenance measures is determined by IRC 81: Maintenance of the Bituminous Surface. The cost of treatment measures was estimated using the Current Standard Schedule of Rates of Panchayat Raj department and summarized.