ABSTRACT: 2017 Pavement Management System Update Final Report, NCE Project No. 82.05.55, August 2017, was accomplished by Nichols Consulting Engineers, Chtd. (NCE) for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Public Works Department; the 2017 Pavement Management System Update Final Report, including Appendices A-E, document copy is embedded. The Background, Purpose, Discussion and Recommendations sections are reproduced.
2017
Pavement Management System Update Final Report
NCE
Project No. 82.05.55
August
2017
Appendix A:
Section
Description Inventory Report – Sorted by Street Name
Section
Description Inventory Report – Sorted by PCI (Descending)
Appendix B:
Maintenance and
Rehabilitation Decision Tree
Appendix C:
Budget Needs –
Projected PCI/Cost Summary Report
Budget Needs –
Preventive Maintenance Treatment/Cost Summary Report
Budget Needs –
Rehabilitation Treatment/Cost Summary Report
Scenarios 1 – 2:
Cost Summary
Report
Network
Condition Summary Report
Appendix D:
Scenarios 1-2:
Sections
Selected for Treatment
Appendix E:
Pavement
Treatment Strategies
2017
Pavement Management System Update Final Report
NCE
Project No. 82.05.55
August 2017
Background
Nichols
Consulting Engineers, Chtd. (NCE) assisted the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea (City)
in updating their StreetSaver Pavement Management System (PMS). Maintenance and
rehabilitation records since 2013 were updated in the StreetSaver database.
Note that the analysis was based on pavement distress data collected in 2007. In
addition, the maintenance and rehabilitation (M&R) strategies and unit
costs (in the M&R Decision Tree) were last updated in 2013 and not modified
for this report.
Based
on the above assumptions, the StreetSaver program was used to determine the
pavement needs, and two budgetary scenarios were performed.
Purpose
The
purpose of this report is to assist decision makers at the City of
Carmel-by-the-Sea in utilizing the results of the StreetSaver PMS.
Specifically, this report assesses the adequacy of projected revenues to meet
the recommended maintenance needs. It also maximizes the return from
expenditures by:
1)
Implementing a multi-year street rehabilitation and maintenance program,
2)
Developing a preventive maintenance program, and
3)
Selecting streets with the most cost effective repairs.
This
report assists the City with identifying maintenance priorities specifics to
its needs. The study examines the overall condition of the street network and
highlights options for improving the current network level pavement condition
index (PCI). These options are developed by conducting "what if" analyses.
By varying the budget amounts available for pavement maintenance and repair,
one can show how different funding strategies affect the City's streets over
the next five years.
Discussion
To
summarize, the City Carmel-by-the-Sea has a substantial investment of $37.3
million in the street network. Overall, the City’s network is in “Fair”
condition with a network PCI of 62. Of the 26.81 centerline miles of
City-maintained streets, approximately one-third is currently in “Good/Very
Good” condition and approximately one-seventh in “Poor” or “Very Poor/Failed”
condition.
The
analyses indicate that the City needs to spend approximately $7 million over
the next five years to essentially repair all streets. By doing so, streets can
then be maintained in good condition with on-going preventive maintenance. This
will save money by avoiding major rehabilitation (such as reconstruction) at a
later time.
Recommendations
A.
Pavement Budget
The
recommended scenario for the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea is Scenario 1 ($900,000
per year); this will improve the PCI to 71 and increase the percentage of streets
in good condition as well as slightly reduce the deferred maintenance.
One
factor for the City to consider is to group seal projects vs. overlay projects
into alternate years e.g. deliver slurry or microsurfacing projects in even
years, and overlay/reconstruction projects in odd years, or vice versa. This
allows the City to maximize the size of the construction contract and thereby
receive more competitive bids. This strategy has been successfully employed by
many small cities similar to Carmel, such as Moraga and Los Altos.
B.
Pavement Maintenance Strategies
The
City’s pavement maintenance strategies are primarily slurry seals seals and
overlays. Since more than a third are in “Good/Very Good” condition, it is
important to preserve good pavements. Crack sealing is relatively inexpensive
and can keep moisture out of pavements and prevent the underlying aggregate base
from premature failures. Life-extending surface seals, such as microsurfacing
and cape seals, are also cost-effective for pavements currently in “Fair” to “Good/Very
Good” condition. Recycling technologies, such as cold-in-place (CIR) or full
depth reclamation (FDR), are also cost-effective alternatives to traditional
mill and fill or reconstruction. More details of these pavement treatments are included
in Appendix E.
The
maintenance and rehabilitation treatment strategies and associated unit costs
should be reviewed and updated annually to reflect new construction
techniques/costs so that the budget analysis results can continue to be
reliable and accurate.
In
addition, a significant unknown is the future cost of rehabilitation; with the
possible volatility in oil prices, we recommend that City carefully monitor
future construction costs and be ready to adapt to large increases if
necessary.
NCE
also recommends that the City adopt a well-funded preventive maintenance program.
This is necessary to at least maintain the portion of the street network that
is in “Good/ Very Good” condition and avoid increasing the deferred maintenance
even more. In addition, the City should consider strategies such as recycling
to achieve more cost savings for the overlay program.
C.
Network Monitoring
As
noted previously, the current street network has not been inspected in over 10
years, and the results and recommendations presented herein are therefore based
on data that is 10 years old.
In
order to make appropriate and reliable decisions, it is recommended that the
City re-inspect the entire street network as soon as possible. Thereafter,
arterial and collector streets should be inspected every two years and
residential streets every four to five years.
D.
Next Steps
To
summarize, we recommend that the City undertake the following steps:
• Maintain
an aggressive preventive maintenance strategy.
• Ensure
pavement funding of at least $900,000/year.
• Re-inspect the street network as soon as possible.
