## 6 Conclusions  
The pavement service life decision process presented in this paper was developed in response to road managers' needs, as current standard decision-making methods, pavement management systems, and road asset valuation approaches failed to deliver sufficient results. Consequently, this new decision-making process was designed to maximize pavement service life through optimal financial planning. While building upon traditional methods, this comprehensive approach prioritizes structural life extension derived from structural life expectancy calculations and the resulting reinforcement thickness requirements. Additionally, it incorporates rehabilitation method designs based on degradation models, economic analyses, and project prioritization.  
Implementing this methodology required extensive research in four critical areas:  
* Residual Life Calculation Methodology: Developing techniques to compute pavement structure residual life using numerical stress analysis and deformation modeling in layered elastic half-space systems, combined with experimental measurements of rehabilitation materials' fatigue parameters.
* Unevenness Deterioration Modeling: Establishing degradation models through data from newly constructed experimental facilities and mathematical models derived from 20 years of road inventory measurements.
* Pavement Asset Valuation Formulas: Creating computational frameworks that incorporate residual life and time-dependent user costs, with benefit calculations based on degradation models.
* Decision Process Implementation: Integrating these methods into a comprehensive model that quantifies how material quality, dimensional specifications, and structural life extension affect structural pavement condition value, while mathematically representing how unevenness degradation impacts pavement user value.  
This study introduces a comprehensive and integrative decision-making model for pavement rehabilitation that uniquely combines structural life expectancy, serviceability deterioration, and asset value evaluation within a single framework. Unlike traditional pavement management approaches that often treat these components separately, the presented model quantifies their interdependence using analytical equations grounded in fatigue theory, pavement performance modeling, and cost-benefit principles.  
**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, L.R., S.S. and J.M.; methodology, J.M. and S.S.; software, L.R.; validation, M.K., L.R. and J.M.; formal analysis, M.K. and S.S.; investigation, M.K. and L.R.; resources, J.M.; data curation, M.K. and L.R.; writing--original draft preparation, M.K. and J.M.; writing--review and editing, L.R.; visualization, M.K.; supervision, J.M.; project administration, M.K.; funding acquisition, J.M. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
**Funding:** This research was funded by the Slovak Research and Development Agency, grant number APVV-22-0040.  
**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.  
**Data Availability Statement:** Data is contained within the article.  
**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.