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C H A P T E R 4 Implementation of Preservation Guidelines This chapter discusses how the pavement preservation the traveling public--of the net positive benefits of apply- guidelines developed in this study and presented in Guide- ing preservation treatments on high-traffic-volume road- lines for the Preservation of High-Traffic-Volume Roadways ways. Justifying the importance of performing preservation can be successfully implemented within a highway agency's work on lower-volume roadways in good condition has existing program for managing and maintaining pavements. been difficult enough over the past several years. Convinc- It also describes several potentially significant barriers to ing government officials and the traveling public of the need putting the guidelines into practice and offers suggestions for to perform work on good roads that are used by much overcoming these barriers. higher percentages of the population can be expected to be even more difficult. A third major barrier involves marketplace pressures that Barriers to Implementation are bound to be applied by affected industry groups. On one Like so many other paradigm shifts that have taken place over side of the highway construction aisle (i.e., suppliers of tradi- the years in highways agencies, there are sure to be a variety tional rehabilitation materials), there will be significant resis- of institutional and external issues that will hinder imple- tance to a shift from worst-first to best-first because of the mentation of the preservation guidelines developed in this potential loss of market share. On the other side of the aisle study. These issues are to be expected when a new process or (suppliers of various preservation treatment materials), there a new way of thinking leads to substantive changes in an will be pressure to move more aggressively to preservation agency's policies and practices. because of the potential gain in market share. One of the most significant barriers that can be expected is Several other specific institutional barriers are likely to be the resistance to allowing the use of preservation treatments encountered. These include the following: traditionally linked to lower-volume roadways, such as micro- surfacing and chip seals, on higher-volume roads. There will · Inadequate database for assessing preservation treatment best certainly be skepticism that certain preservation treatments practices and cost-effectiveness. Many of today's pavement are not durable enough for use on high-volume roads, partic- preservation programs have been challenged by the lack of ularly those in severe climates. Furthermore, for those agen- good quality data upon which to base its precepts. As a cies still in the early stages of developing a general preservation result, engineering judgment and experience are the pri- program, in order to minimize risk they may choose to focus mary basis for decision making, making the program more on lower-volume road applications. Although a few agencies subjective and oriented toward traditional practices. While might be inclined to immediately expand the scope of their it is generally the case that pavement data are more com- program to higher-volume applications, the preference of plete and accurate for higher-traffic-volume roads than for most would be to first develop rational, proven practices at the lower-volume roads, every database has issues and these lower traffic volumes and then gradually adapt those practices issues will likely have to be dealt with to some degree dur- to higher-traffic-volume facilities. Hence, use of the preserva- ing the implementation process. tion guidelines developed in this study may be perceived as · Greater perception of risk. Over the years, many highway premature. agencies have developed and continually refined their Another major barrier is the ability of the highway agency pavement preservation activities and procedures. They to persuade elected government officials--and ultimately have experienced both successes and failures along the 79