Life cycle cost analysis for road pavements

Abstract

The construction of roads has become a major Construction Industry in this country. Huge sums of money is being spent on Construction and Maintenance of roads. The cost effectiveness of three Road Pavement types which are currently in use are investigated in this exercise. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) technique which has become very much popular in the building industry has been used here for that purpose. Construction costs and maintenance costs for the three pavement types were collected from a sample of 18 roads in the western province and these data were analyzed in this document. The results obtained indicate that the present system of road maintenance has increased the LCC of all road types and the Life time of a road can be extended if due maintenance is regularly carried out. This would result in a lower LCC for all road types. The use of Asphalt Concrete for flexible pavements is recommended on the findings of analysis in this report as the LCC of the other pavement types with a inferior wearing surfaces are not much lower than the LCC of Asphalt Concrete type pavement. This study also guides further research on the type of data required to carry out a LCC·analysis of any road type. This study also highlights the dearth of recorded expenditure data in many important cost areas.