Pavement Preservation Technology in France, South Africa, and Australia

Detail

An increasing number of highway agencies have found that applying relatively low-cost surface preservation treatments can extend the service life of pavement. The Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a scanning study of France, South Africa, and Australia to investigate innovative programs for pavement preservation. The U.S. delegation observed that the countries visited are committed to designing and building long-lasting structural pavement sections on their national roadway networks. The countries focus on road maintenance, using low-cost seals and thin overlays on surfaces to protect their investment in underlying layers, rather than on more costly rehabilitation. The scanning team's recommendations for U.S. application include developing demonstration projects using deep subbase and deep base roadway designs, testing innovative procedures to improve chip seal performance, conducting a best-practices seminar on long-term maintenance contracts, and evaluating pavement condition survey vehicles.