Estimation of road network total maintenance cost

This paper deals with the problem of assessing highway network condition as a basis for estimating future maintenance expenditure. Traditional methods of pavement condition evaluation for maintenance expenditure estimation were found to produce inaccurate results for a road subnetwork in Northern Ireland. These inaccuracies were attributed both to the sampling procedure used and to the 'exception reporting' characteristics of the visually collected data. An alternative method of maintenance expenditure estimation was considered. This method was based on the calculation of networkwide indices of condition which embraced parameters indicating road-user costs, safety characteristics and structural condition. An analysis of the feasibility of linking these indices of condition with maintenance expenditure has been effected with encouraging results.