Pavement Management Systems

MAP-21

Highways and roads, whether interstate, state, county, or local, are the critical circulation network of the automotive surface transportation mode. Recognizing this, the executive and legislative branches of the United States have long made focused efforts to promulgate consistent policy, allocate resources, and monitor standards to ensure that this strategic asset is well maintained.

The most recent of these focused efforts came in 2012. In its Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) framework, Congress made federal funds available—a minimum of $12 million annually—through the Technology and Innovation Deployment Program to accelerate the implementation and deployment of pavement technology in the United States. MAP-21 also updated the power of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to compel states to comply with necessary corrective actions when pavement conditions are substandard—including on their portions of the interstate highway system.

A team repaves Interstate Highway 84 in Oregon in 2013. The Federal Highway Administration has the authority to compel states to correct substandard pavement conditions, including on their portions of the interstate highway system.

MAP-21 empowered the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to work in conjunction with state DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations, and other stakeholders in the establishment and review of performance measures for pavement conditions. These metrics will vary by geographic region, based on climate, road usage, and other factors. States must document the work they are performing or have plans to remedy situations where pavement has fallen below the codified performance levels.

Survey, Analysis, and Decision

The various state highway planning, engineering, and construction administrators, too, generally [Page 1056]have a solid record of policing their own best practices. These practices, and the principles that underlie them, have been developed hand in hand with private industry in the form of construction companies, material and component manufacturers, and labor unions, and with scientists and academic researchers.

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