Treatment of cracking in rigid highway pavements using knowledge-based System

Highway engineers encounter numerous problems in the quality of rigid pavements; cracking types are the most critical ones. Thus, deciding on appropriate controlling measures represents an essential mission. Normally, cracking problems affect the quality of pavements as well as increase initial cost. Although experts can control and solve these problems by using their tacit knowledge, novice engineers cannot. Transfer of expertise from experts to novices is difficult pavements domain. Therefore, a system which experts could use to share their experience with other engineers both during and after a project is necessary. Without such transfer of expertise and knowledge, novices may repeat mistakes that experts have already learned to avoid. Documentation, classification, and computerization of these problems, their causes, treatments, and preventive actions can be very helpful in controlling and preventing them. This study aims to describe the development of a knowledge-based system that can be used by novice engineers to overcome cracking of rigid pavements. The system can also be used as an instructional tool for prospective highway engineers. In addition, the system can archive and organize raw knowledge from experts to be utilized by engineers who work in this field. Domain experts can use the system to share their experiences. The knowledge includes problems encountered in the domain, their causes, preventive actions, treatments, and their effects, which were presented in a classified format. The knowledge was presented in the form of rules and coded in software by using Visual Basic. The system was tested by different users involved in highway engineering, including experts and novice engineers. The mean values of the overall system evaluation by the four types of users based on the 5-point Likert scale were 4 and 4.5 respectively. These values reflect high level of satisfaction by end-users.