Framework of Sustainable Strategies for Monitoring Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Secondary Road Network to Guarantee a Safe and Efficient Accessibility

Abstract

The secondary road network represents the backbone of accessibility and mobility and constitutes the most important connection system which sustains the economies of the country and its territorial sectors, ensuring the access to markets, farm inputs, jobs, education and health services. Despite the importance of this road system for economic and social activities, the alignment and structural conditions of the roads are not such as to guarantee the level of functionality, safety and resilience required for them. A paramount component of road networks is the pavement, which provides a smooth travelling surface enabling to the vehicles of circulating with comfort and safety under various climatic conditions throughout the pavement’s life cycle. However, once built, pavements suffer a deterioration over time under both traffic loads and environmental conditions. The need of maintenance has to deals with the scarcity of the financial resources available to road agencies. Considering the extension of the road network it is very important to apply low-cost techniques to detect the condition of the pavements and properly allocate interventions and resources. Different methods for the assessment of pavement condition have been developed and applied in the last years. In the paper an overview of the traditional and innovative approaches is presented, with a focus on high performance and fast ones.