Pavement Management Systems
ODOT's Office of Pavement Management has committed to surveying all 13,000 miles of local roads in Ohio's federal-aid network and issuing a pavement condition rating (PCR) for each segment every two years. The expectation was for the local governments to use the PCR's to prioritize their limited roadway maintenance dollars, like the ODOT does with their own PCRs. The pavement management system in Ohio is almost 15 years old and has become a living institution for programmatic funding.
The Eastgate Regional Council of Governments saw the benefit in extending this system to local jurisdictions back in 1990. Therefore EASTGATE developed a simple method of visually inspecting the pavement that produced a uniform description of the roadway surface condition. The resultant pavement condition ratings (PCR) are a mathematical expression reflecting the composite effects of varying types, severity, and extent of distress under the expected traffic conditions. The goal is to institutionalize the pavement rating process, so that the rating could be used as a quantifiable measure for comparing projects on a local basis. PMS is not intended to be a regulatory requirement. Instead, it is an information system that is to be used as a guide in the transportation planning and programming decision making process.
During the 90's EASTGATE prepared a manual, conducted training and prepared final reports for 13 communities that opted to initiate pavement management systems. In FY2004 EASTGATE evaluated the effectiveness of the training and pavement management system. Based on the results of the analysis, EASTGATE determined that mass training was necessary to advance the PMS institutionalization. The Ohio Local Technical Assistance Program collaborated with The Office of Pavement Management to produce a series of PCR training courses specifically for the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. More than 100 individuals have benefited from this collaboration.
