Reclamite,

Feds Push More Use of Pavement Preservation: Economics drives funding boost for transportation asset management decision making, a move that could profoundly change construction and operations

As state and federal tax revenues slated for transportation construction have continued to shrink, a quiet evolution has taken place in highway management decision making.

This important development, underway by Congress and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) since the mid-1970s and focused by The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), has transformed a highway program of construction and re-construction to one of preserve, maintain and operate.

It represents a dramatic shift in FHWA‟s position on funding preventive maintenance treatments from the early days when these treatments were deemed ineligible for federal money. And it now heralds a major departure for the construction industry while holding promise for cutting an estimated backlog of $500 billion worth of unfunded but needed highway and bridge repairs and reconstruction.

During the 1990s, the applicability of FHWA aid for preventive maintenance treatments was broadened considerably through congressional legislation, and the agency clarified this eligibility through a series of memorandums. Arguably the most far-reaching memo was released by the agency in October, 2004. This memo reflected a sea change in the way FHWA regarded preventive maintenance treatments. It stated unequivocally that preventive maintenance extends the service life of a road in a cost-effective manner and therefore was eligible for Federal-aid funding. It further explained that preventive maintenance activities eligible for federal-aid are those that address aging, oxidation, surface deterioration, and normal wear and tear from day-to-day performance and environmental conditions. FHWA now encourages states to maintain and preserve the roads they have, not provide incentive for them to wait until roads deteriorate so badly they have to be totally reconstructed.

"We learned you could preserve the road if you selected the right preventive maintenance treatment at the right time for the right road,” said Jim Sorenson, senior construction engineer for FHWA's.

- Office of Asset Management

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