Streamlined Strategies for Faster, Less Traffic-Disruptive Highway Rehabilitation in Urban Networks

Abstract

The need for faster, less traffic-disruptive rehabilitation for aging highway infrastructure is an emerging concern for many state highway agencies. In response to this concern, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) launched the Long-Life Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (LLPRS) program in 1998 to rebuild 2,800 lane kilometers of high-volume urban freeway with premium pavements that will last 30+ years and require minimal maintenance over their service life. This paper presents innovative strategies and technologies for achieving faster project completion with less traffic disruption as applied on three experimental LLPRS projects. The research team and the Caltrans project team used Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS) software from the initial planning and design stages to implement the most economical rehabilitation strategies for the projects. The postconstruction analysis of all three LLPRS projects, made with data collected during construction, revealed a close match with the preconstruction schedule estimate generated by CA4PRS, validating the software's scheduling reliability. Incentive-disincentive contractual provisions proved effective for shortening project duration on all three LLPRS projects, which were time critical because of their heavy traffic volume. Resultant traffic data demonstrate the importance of a public outreach campaign that convinced motorists to use alternative routes or to adjust their commuting modes, resulting in significantly lower traffic demand in the construction work zone. The strategies and lessons addressed in this paper will help state highway agencies and contractors maximize construction productivity for early project completion and minimize inconvenience to the traveling public.