A general iterative approach for the system-level joint optimization of pavement maintenance, rehabilitation, and reconstruction planning

At the segment level, a new maintenance effectiveness model fitted on empirical data is proposed and incorporated into the MR&R optimization program. A greedy heuristic algorithm is developed, which greatly reduces the computation time without compromising the solution quality. Combining the system- and segment-level models and solution algorithms, we examine a batch of numerical cases. The results show considerable cost savings from the incorporation of maintenance, and from jointly optimizing the use of a combined agency budget. A number of managerial insights stemmed from the numerical case studies are discussed, which can help highway agencies formulate more cost-efficient MR&R plans and budget allocation.