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Enhanced Decision-Making Through Optimization Analysis with AgileAssets® Pavement Analyst™

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) recognized the need to improve its pavement management program to save time and money while achieving performance targets.

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Goals

The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) recognized the need to improve its pavement management program to save time and money while achieving performance targets.

The DelDOT team identified three strategic goals:

  1. Improve decision-making, budget allocation, and treatment selection
  2. Develop a standardized approach to procuring data-collection vendors
  3. Convert automated data into operational results

To achieve these goals, DelDOT staff prepared a business case to procure a comprehensive pavement management system (PMS) that featured advanced optimization analysis.

Challenges

Challenges

DelDOT maintains about 14,000 lane miles of highways, 54 toll lanes, more than 1,700 bridges, and a wide range of other infrastructure assets–from signs and signals to snow removal equipment, stormwater management facilities, and more. The department also oversees the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Delaware Transit Corporation, which operates DART First State, the state’s public transportation provider.*

To implement the new PMS, DelDOT needed to overcome several challenges. The main challenge was reconfiguring DelDOT’s engineering decision-making framework to take advantage of automated data-collection processes. Another challenge was to address existing limitations in converting raw distress data into deterioration indices.

DelDOT also had to develop performance models, treatments, and decision trees to support its new optimization analysis efforts. In addition, the department needed to integrate the new PMS with existing data-collection tools and legacy systems. A final challenge was training staff on how to effectively use the new PMS.

*Source: DelDOT 2015-2016 Fact Book.

Solutions

DelDOT implemented AgileAssets Pavement Analyst (PMS) as the core component of its enhanced pavement management program.

The scope of the implementation included:Solutions

  1. Distress data conversion
  2. Treatment development
  3. Decision tree review and development
  4. Performance model development
  5. Network master configuration
  6. Analysis and reports development
  7. System implementation
  8. Staff training

DelDOT pavement managers are now able to determine projected network budget needs with a greater level of confidence.

Benefits

Benefits

DelDOT’s enhanced pavement management program moves the department into a new era of optimized pavement management decisions at both the network and project level.

Pavement managers are now able to determine projected network budget needs with a greater level of confidence. Pavement Analyst provides treatment recommendations, so pavement managers can easily turn field data into work plans and operational results In addition, DelDOT can now use optimization analysis to meet FAST Act requirements.

Overall, DelDOT is able to deliver more value to road users by improving both the strategic planning and day-to-day operations of its pavement management program.