05-13-1998 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Rating System We have found that relating a normal maintenance or rehabilitation procedure to the surface rating scheme helps local officials use the rating system. However, choosing an individual surface rating should not automatically dictate the final maintenance or rehabilitation tech- nique. You should consider future traffic projections, original con- struction, and pavement strength since these may dictate a more comprehensive rehabilitation. On the other hand, it may be appropri- ate under special conditions to do nothing and let the pavement fully deteriorate, then rebuild when funds are available. Individual pavements will not have all of the types of distress listed for any particular rating. They may have only one or two types. Caution Rating a roadway segment will involve evaluating conditions over a considerable length (for example, a mile or more in rural areas or many blocks in urban areas). Obviously no roadway segment has entirely consistent conditions. Therefore, some "averaging" is neces- sary. The objective is to rate the condition that represents the major- ity of the pavement. Small or isolated conditions should not influence the rating. It is useful to note these special conditions on the rating form so this information can be used in project design. For example, some spot patching or wedging may be required. Occasionally pavement conditions vary significantly. For example, short sections of good condition may be followed by sections of poor pavement conditions. In these cases it is best to rate the pavement according to the worst conditions and note the variability on the form. The overall purpose of condition rating is to provide a relative com- parison of the condition of all your pavement segments. Therefore, comparing any two pavement segments would show the better pave- ment with a higher rating. Within a given rating, say 7, not all pave- ments will be exactly the same. However, they should all be consid- ered to be in better condition than those with lower ratings, say 5. Sometimes it is helpful in rating a difficult segment to compare it to other previously rated segments. For example, if it is better than one you rated 5 and worse than a typical 7, then a rating of 6 is appropri- ate. Having all pavement segments rated in the proper relative order is most important and useful. Page 50 Additional tips