Development of GIS- and GPS-Based Intelligent Network-Level Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation System

A user-friendly road maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) system has been developed to find cost effective strategies for maintaining road networks in a serviceable condition. Pavement condition data and spatial road network data were collected using a GPS palmtop, segregated and arranged spatially on a GIS platform. The M&R toolbox, developed in GIS software TransCAD macros (computer program), performs various modules which provide prioritization of maintenance of each link in the network using a priority index approach, suitable rehabilitation strategies, link-wise budget requirements, effect of available budget on vehicle operating cost and road roughness. Furthermore, additional lane requirements based on volume and capacity ratio and its design were also considered. The developed M&R system was implemented for a small part of road network in Mumbai (Bombay) metropolitan area in India. It was identified that the enhanced M&R system, developed in this study, is effective in day-to-day road maintenance and helpful in the decision making process for planning and scheduling of road M&R work.