Existing and Emerging Highway Infrastructure Preservation, Maintenance, and Renewal Definitions, Practices, and Scenarios (2020)

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A-1 EXISTING PMR DEFINITIONS MAINTENANCE The term “maintenance” has been defined in many different ways depending on its application within the highway infrastructure sector. Several definitions were specific to bridges or pavements, while others described the two variants of maintenance types whose usage has been prevalent since the 1990s—preventive and routine maintenance. These various definitions are discussed below. In 1972, an NCHRP report defined highway maintenance as "actions that preserve assets in their as-constructed condition.” NCHRP Report 668, Framework for a National Database System for Maintenance Actions on Highway Bridges (Hearn et al. 2010) provided definitions from several states, most of which described maintenance as activities that maintain the functional capabilities of the bridge asset. In 2015, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Strategic Highway Research Program Round 2 (SHRP2) Solution’s report titled Durability Assessment of a Bridge Substructure described maintenance as “either ‘good practice’ directed toward prolonging the life of components that are performing as expected (for example, cleaning debris from horizontal surfaces) or local repairs resulting from unforeseen conditions.” Following the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Guidance on Highway Preservation and Maintenance (Waidelich 2016) defined maintenance as “work that is performed to maintain the condition of the transportation system or to respond to specific conditions or events that restore the highway system to a functional state of operation.” This guidance also clarified that maintenance may be comprised of both routine and preventive maintenance and discussed the eligibility each type to receive federal-aid funding. Preventive Maintenance NCHRP Report 668 (Hearn et al. 2010) presented different agency definitions of preventive maintenance for bridges, many of which reference activities used to prevent deterioration. AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Highways provided one well-accepted definition of preventive maintenance as “the planned strategy of cost-effective treatments to an existing roadway system and its appurtenances that preserves the system, retard future deterioration, and maintain or improve the functional condition of the system (without increasing structural capacity).” A current definition for preventive maintenance is that it is “a cost-effective means of extending the useful life” which is the definition given in 23 U.S.C. Section 116(e) (Waidelich 2016).

A-2 Routine Maintenance 1) The most common definition for routine maintenance found in the literature is “maintenance work that is planned and performed on a routine basis to maintain and preserve the condition of the highway system or to respond to specific conditions and events that restore the highway system to an adequate level of service.” This particular definition was used by the following sources: • NCHRP Report 668 (2010) which cited the FHWA Preventive Maintenance Questions and Answers from Dec 2004 (this document has since been superseded by FHWA guidance issued in 2016). • TRB SHRP2 report Guidelines for the Preservation of High-Traffic-Volume Roadways S2-R26-RR-2 (Peshkin 2010) which cited the FHWA Memorandum on Pavement Preservation (Geiger 2005). • The Government Accounting Office (GAO) Report on Highway Infrastructure in 2012 which cited 23 U.S.C. Section 116(d). Beyond this well-accepted definition, individual states had their own definitions, as was noted in the NCHRP Report 668 (2010). For example, Ohio Department of Transportation (DOT) defined routine maintenance as work that “keeps a highway including all of its elements in or as close as possible to its original constructed condition or its subsequently improved condition.” Texas defined routine maintenance as the “repair of substructures, superstructures, decks, joints, approach slabs and railing; spot painting; repair and operation of moveable bridges; installation of temporary bridges; repair and installation of fender systems.” Most recently, FHWA (Waidelich 2016) provided a post-MAP-21 definition for routine maintenance as “work that is performed in reaction to an event, season, or overall deterioration of the transportation asset.” PRESERVATION Most definitions for “preservation” in the literature are associated with specific highway assets, primarily bridges and pavements. The ubiquitous definition for bridge preservation in the literature is “actions or strategies that prevent, delay or reduce deterioration of bridges or bridge elements, restore the function of existing bridges, keep bridges in good condition and extend their life.” This definition was attributed to both the AASHTO Board of Directors (2011) and to the FHWA Bridge Preservation Expert Task Group (2011). The field of pavement preservation has its own definitions. One definition, cited by the TRB SHRP2 Report S2-R26-RR-1, came from the FHWA Pavement Preservation Compendium II (Kuennen 2006), which defined pavement preservation as a “planned system of treating pavements at the optimum time to maximize their useful life, thus enhancing pavement longevity at the lowest cost.” Many sources in the literature cited the FHWA Memorandum on Pavement Preservation (Geiger 2005) which defined pavement preservation as “a program employing a network level, long-term strategy that enhances pavement performance by using an integrated, cost-effective set of practices that extend pavement life, improve safety and meet motorist expectations” which is a definition that came out of the FHWA Pavement Preservation Expert Task Group. That definition was then superseded by FHWA (Waidelich 2016) as follows “Preservation consists of work that is planned and performed to improve or sustain the condition of the transportation facility in a state

A-3 of good repair. Preservation activities generally do not add capacity or structural value, but do restore the overall condition of the transportation facility.” RENEWAL Existing literature provides few definitions for “renewal” which markedly differ from each other. This is likely a consequence of the colloquial nature of the term and its broad applicability. In 2003, the NCHRP Project 20-58(1) Detailed Planning for Research on Accelerating the Renewal of America's Highways defined highway renewal as “preservation, rehabilitation, or reconstruction” (Andrle et al. 2003) but did not define those terms in turn. More recently, SHRP2 defined renewal as “the reconstruction or substantial rehabilitation of deteriorating highway infrastructure to new standards of service.” SHRP2 also provides a definition for rapid renewal, which is described as “accelerated construction and also includes planning, project development, and maintenance and operations features that minimize the total project duration, produce long- lasting facilities, and minimize motorist delay.”

A-4 R E F E R E N C E S Andrle, S.J., E.T. Cackler, T. Ferragut, and R. McDaniel. 2003. Detailed Planning for Research on Accelerating the Renewal of America’s Highways Study 1—Renewal, Contractor’s Final Report of NCHRP Project 20-58[1]. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.. Geiger, D.R. 2016. “Guidance on Highway Preservation and Maintenance.” Memorandum dated February 25, 2016. United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/preservation/091205.cfm (As of December 8, 2016.) Hearn, G., P.D. Thompson, W. Mystkowski and W. Hyman. 2010. NCHRP Report 668: Framework for a National Database System for Maintenance Actions on Highway Bridges. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington D.C. Kuennen, T. 2006. “Making High-Volume Roads Last Longer, Pavement Preservation Compendium II.” United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement/preservation/ppc06.pdf (As of December 8, 2016.) Waidelich, W.C. 2016. Guidance on Highway Preservation and Maintenance. Memorandum dated February 25, 2016. United States Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/preservation/memos/160225.cfm. (As of December 8, 2016.)