Use of analytic hierarchy process to prioritize network-level maintenance of pavement segments with multiple distresses

Abstract

In network-level pavement management, maintenance prioritization of pavement segments usually involves determining the relative priorities of pavement segments with several distresses of various types and severity levels. A widely adopted practice is to assign maintenance priority to each pavement segment with a priority index computed with an empirical mathematical equation. Though convenient to use, the computed numerical index does not have a clear physical meaning, and it may not accurately and effectively convey the priority assessment or intention of highway agencies and engineers. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been adopted to overcome this limitation. The AHP was previously applied to establish the relative pavement maintenance priorities of single pavement distress types with different severity levels. The problem of establishing maintenance priorities of pavement segments with multiple distresses is much more complex. Many more decision levels and pairwise comparisons must be made because of many possible combinations of distress types and severities. The AHP formulation of the problem is presented, along with a demonstration of an example problem consisting of 30 multidistress pavement segments. The solution of priority ratings by the AHP is compared with the corresponding solution by the widely adopted PAVER pavement maintenance procedure. The reasonableness of the two solutions is compared with the priority ratings obtained from a direct assessment method that provides the baseline reference for comparison.