Abstract

The cost of road pavement construction, its durability and reliability depends on many factors, including: the scope and detail of the technical design, quality of work but also the scope of works related to its maintenance, conservation and operation. Determining the amount of rational expenses, in terms of the life cycle cost of the pavement, requires determination and consideration of the above issues, already at the planning and design stage. In many cases, the ordering party analyzes only the initial investment costs, omitting the operating expenses for the pavement in the long term. The article points out the link between decisions taken at the planning and design stages and expenses incurred at the stage of maintenance and use of road pavement. The authors analyse and compare life cycle costs for two technologies of making road pavement - flexible (asphalt pavement) and rigid (portland cement concrete - PCC) and three categories of road traffic. Referring to the methodology included in [1], the authors present an example of the LCC analysis and determine the individual cost components: construction, renovation and maintenance during the period of 30 years. The analysed costs were determined based on the expert knowledge and current price publications. The authors draw attention to the fact that low costs incurred by the ordering party at the stage of investment implementation, in the course of use and maintenance of the pavement, entail significant expenses in the long-term. The authors also indicate difficulties related to the estimation of the cost of the road pavements life cycle. The main reasons include the lack of designers' knowledge about the technology of pavement repairs and related costs, as well as the lack of a simple model for calculating life cycle costs, which is a tool for supporting investment decisions and indicating the optimal solution already at the design stage.

Citations

Authors (4)