Integrating Pavement Information Modeling (PIM), Pavement Sustainable Design, Climate Changing Adaptation and Cost Estimating at the Conceptual Design Stage of Roads
Creators: name: Huang, Hanguang
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2024
Subjects: Pavement Design
Pavement Construction Management
Pavement Information Modelling (PIM)
Project Management

description: Pavements are critical parts of infrastructure projects for urban growth since cities rely significantly on numerous kinds of transportation for access and movement. To fill the gaps in the knowledge and methodology used in the construction of sustainable, resilient, and cost effective pavements, a model is developed based on the concept of Pavement Information Modeling (PIM), with the ability to develop roads at the conceptual design stage by providing ample versatility to influence stakeholders' decisions toward better pavement design. The model consists of five modules: 1) pavement design selection (PDS) module; 2) updated sustainable and resilient pavement design (SRPD) module; 3) Pavement Information Modelling (PIM) module; 4) conceptual cost estimating module; and 5) a preliminary scheduling analysis module. The model uses traffic data as inputs to run the Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) determination model, which was developed based on AASHTO 1993 design recommendations, to estimate the traffic's impact on the pavement. The PDS module determines the recommended design for flexible and rigid pavements, including paving materials and structural design, based on various provincially published pavement design manuals, guidelines, specifications, and mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) manipulated results. The sustainability's capability of the model is achieved by the SRPD module, which was developed based on the Canadian flexible pavement adaption measures gathered from the literature that investigated flexible pavement performance under future climate conditions in Canada. Various adaptation tactics, such as changing paving material at different lifts and varying lift thicknesses, are assigned to flexible pavement designs generated by the PDS module based on the project's location, construction period, and future climate conditions. A user-friendly platform is built, allowing users to select and alter the pavement design within the ranges specified by the design criteria. The PIM module provides the pavement 3D design outputs within Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment via its tool (i.e., Autodesk Revit), allowing users to visualize their design's details in 3D Scenes. The cost estimation module generates three types of approximate cost estimates for the conceptually designed pavement based on the design inputs, historical bidding prices, RS Means cost data, and TAC recommended rehabilitation schedule, that includes materials' cost, labor and equipment costs, and rehabilitation cost. The fifth module provides an analysis for the project's construction duration by generating a preliminary linear schedule (Line of Balance, LOB). Both the cost estimate and schedule analysis reports are ideal for conducting projects' feasibility assessment.