Evaluation of a new maintenance concept for the preservation of highways

Asphalt roads gradually deteriorate over time and need mending to remain in a good state. Inspections are performed to obtain information about the current state of the road; when the level of damage reaches the established standards, the road is repaired through a maintenance action that is considered most cost-effective. Because of economies of scale, it is to a certain extent economical to limit the number of maintenance services by integrating neighbouring segments into a homogeneous section which is completely repaired. In this report we consider the question of whether it is economically justified to adopt a maintenance concept in which the road is occasionally regenerated from junction to junction with a distance of several kilometers. The big advantage of junction-to-junction maintenance is that it can be done within special road barrier constructions which reduce the road capacity only slightly, so that the road can be maintained 24 hours a day.