Decision-Making Guideline for Preservation of Flexible Pavements in General Aviation Airport Management

Proactive pavement preservation applies low-cost treatments frequently to mitigate deterioration, whereas the traditional approach to preservation is reactive to distresses, requiring intensive rehabilitation or reconstruction. Airfield pavement preservation requires adequate planning in order to efficiently mitigate pavement deterioration. Large airports generally have dedicated staff and specified budget for the management and maintenance of their pavement network; however, these resources may be lacking in many general aviation (GA) airports in the United States. Therefore, technical rules for pavement preservation should be documented and simplified for GA managers to inhibit quick deterioration and address proactive preservation. In this paper, a database and the development of guidelines for the selection of long-lasting and cost-effective treatments are introduced. A tool has been designed especially for nontechnical decision makers in GA. The developed guidelines cover both asphalt and concrete pavements, but this paper focuses on flexible pavements only. Selected treatments vary depending on different climate zones and airport traffic and service, which is reflected in airport categorization. Furthermore, the selection of an optimal treatment based on benefit-to-cost-ratio analysis is discussed. (C) 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.