Comparing Life-Cycle Cost Analysis of Full-Depth Reclamation Versus Traditional Pavement Maintenance and Rehabilitation Strategies:

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Abstract
Arkansas has highways in the central and southern portions of the state that have experienced unanticipated high traffic levels because of logging and drilling for natural gas. These highways are being exposed to traffic much higher than their design values. In these situations, traditional maintenance and rehabilitation strategies can often be either ineffective or too expensive. Therefore, full-depth reclamation is being explored as a possible alternative for asphalt concrete pavements in Arkansas. This research compared chip seals, overlays, mill and fill, and complete reconstruction with three full-depth reclamation technologies from the economic and structural perspectives: asphalt emulsion, asphalt foam, and portland cement. With life-cycle cost analysis techniques, it was found that the user costs ranged from one-fourth to five times the agency costs. Although full-depth reclamation is economically competitive with traditional strategies, it was not as competitive on roadways with higher ratios of bounded versus unbounded material. Finally, traffic capacity increased significantly at reclaiming depths greater than 10 in. Overall, this research supports full-depth reclamation as a viable economic alternative to chip seals, overlays, mill and fill, and complete reconstruction given the proper conditions of traffic and bound pavement depth.

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