A framework for determining the impact of deferred maintenance and/or obsolescence of a highway system

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dc.contributor.authorChasey, Allan D.en
dc.contributor.committeechairde la Garza, Jesus M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberDrew, Donald R.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBeliveau, Yvan J.en
dc.contributor.committeememberFabrycky, Wolter J.en
dc.contributor.committeememberVorster, Michael C.en
dc.contributor.committeememberWeyers, Richard E.en
dc.contributor.departmentCivil Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T21:13:03Zen
dc.date.adate2008-06-06en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T21:13:03Zen
dc.date.issued1995-03-04en
dc.date.rdate2008-06-06en
dc.date.sdate2008-06-06en
dc.description.abstractIn the early 1980's, the decline in the U.S. infrastructure was highlighted by a report entitled America in Ruins: Beyond the Public Works Pork Barrel. A series of reports followed trying to assess the condition of the infrastructure. One of these reports, Fragile Foundations, assigned grades to the various infrastructure systems and concluded that "the quality of America's infrastructure is barely adequate to fulfill current requirements and insufficient to meet the demands of future economic growth and development." This research develops a framework to account for the impact of deferred highway maintenance and/or construction on user and non-user benefits. This will aid the decision-making process and help guide the effective use of scarce financial resources. The framework proposes the concept of a Comprehensive Level of Service for highways using a combination of both maintenance (Level of Operation) and capacity (Level of Availability) indicators. Highways, like equipment, are affected by deterioration and obsolescence, obsolescence being the inability to function as designed. Deterioration, defining the physical level of service, comes from the aging of physical materials over time. Obsolescence, defining the functional level of service, comes from increased usage. Together, they result in overcrowding, congestion and increased economic costs to both users and non-users. A mathematical model is developed that allows simulation of the impact of deferred highway maintenance based on the concept of a Comprehensive Level of Service. System dynamics is the simulation methodology utilized as it allows incorporation of social, technical, economic and political issues into a laboratory setting to analyze change. The framework, permitting evaluation of the future implications of current policy decisions, is demonstrated through scenario analysis. The scenarios include an analysis of various highway maintenance investment levels and of the trade-off between highway maintenance and highway improvement. These scenarios demonstrate the impact of maintenance and construction investments on a highway system through a user and non-user benefit analysis.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.format.extentxii, 218 leavesen
dc.format.mediumBTDen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.otheretd-06062008-160445en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-06062008-160445/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/38149en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartLD5655.V856_1995.C437.pdfen
dc.relation.isformatofOCLC# 32883700en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectU. S. infrastructureen
dc.subject.lccLD5655.V856 1995.C437en
dc.titleA framework for determining the impact of deferred maintenance and/or obsolescence of a highway systemen
dc.typeDissertationen
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
thesis.degree.disciplineCivil Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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