Pavement design and maintenance alternatives for low-volume roads in India

Abstract

Pavement economics is very important in the design and management of pavements for low-volume roads. The Highway Development and Management tool (HDM-4) developed by World Bank can be used to combine technical and economical appraisal of road investment projects, and to analyse different design and maintenance strategies for bituminous surfacing, concrete and unsurfaced roads. In this study an attempt has been made to evaluate a typical low volume road project by using HDM-4 to perform an economic analysis that compares three surfacing types design and maintenance options (unsurfaced, surface treatment, and asphalt) at typical traffic composition and varying traffic levels for low volume roads in Plain, Rolling and Hilly terrain of Uttaranchal State of India. Total cost has been calculated for each case, which includes initial construction, maintenance, road user, and salvage costs. Based on the study, suitable design and maintenance strategies have been suggested for different traffic levels for low-volume roads.