Development of System Dynamic Approaches to Airport Pavements Maintenance

Abstract

AbstractPavement maintenance solutions have been traditionally developed based mainly on two quantities: pavement condition index (PCI) and structural condition index (SCI). The PCI represents the functional condition, whereas the SCI reflects the structural condition of a pavement. Using a system dynamic concept, this study has developed two approaches for the first time: (1) the PCI approach, where a specific maintenance treatment is applied when the PCI value of a pavement section reaches a minimum defined value; and (2) the combined PCI-SCI approach, where a specific maintenance is applied when either the PCI or the SCI reaches a minimum value. In particular, two different system dynamic modules have been developed to calculate the relative benefit and cost associated with different maintenance scenarios. It is shown that for low initial SCI values, the PCI-SCI approach shows higher relative benefits and lower life-cycle treatment cost than the PCI approach. However, if the difference between the PCI ...