Growing transportation costs led member companies of the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) to request assistance in improving the management of their road systems and thereby lowering road maintenance costs. In response, FERIC developed the Opti-Grade tool, a modified approach to grading that met their needs. It involves focusing road maintenance on the road segments that most need grading, thereby making the most efficient use of graders, lowering grading costs, and improving the performance of the roads, because they are in better condition to deal with traffic and environmental abuse. In addition to the roughness data used for grading schedules, Opti-Grade provides information about average vehicle travel speed on each kilometer of the road. This information can help road managers identify sections of the road that are restricting traffic for reasons such as poor road geometry, high dust levels, poor lines of sight, or high traffic levels. FERIC’s Opti-Grade is an effective management tool for routine road maintenance, and work is being done to make it equally effective for managing road rehabilitation.


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    Title :

    Improving Road Quality with Focused Daily Road Maintenance


    Additional title:

    Transportation Research Record


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2001-01-01




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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