The Woodlands Pavement Management Plan

Challenge: The Woodlands Township is one of America’s first premier master-planned communities. They were provided a pathway for incorporation as a new city in 2017. However, to do so, they would need to assume the responsibility for services previously provided by the County, including roadway maintenance. The Township needed to develop an in-house Woodlands pavement management program and determine a valuation of their infrastructure.

Solution: To prepare for the incorporation via an in-depth analysis, the Township procured the services of Matrix Consulting and HR Green, who provided engineering analysis for various infrastructure, including pavement.

To determine the condition of the current roadway network, HR Green migrated the Township’s existing historical GIS-based pavement database into PAVERTM Pavement Management System and partnered with Gorrondona & Associates, who provided semi-automated network-level inspection based on ASTM Pavement Condition Index (PCI) methodology.

The team utilized the Maintenance and Rehabilitation (M&R) Planning module in PAVERTM to provide recommendations for when and where M&R activities are needed. HR Green used information provided by the Township to run several budget analyses to develop an economically viable work plan.

The team also used the software to determine the annual funding level that would eliminate the Township’s Major M&R backlog for the pavement over the next five years. In addition, the scenarios showed the impact of different funding levels on the overall pavement condition were nominal, focusing efforts on the proper maintenance and replacement schedules.

Benefit: The Woodlands Pavement Management Plan provided the Township a more extensive look at the street conditions and supported the development of a comprehensive roadway maintenance program, understanding costs far into the future. While the Township’s current pavement is in very good condition, 65% of the road network was constructed within the past forty years. This suggests that future M&R needs will increase as the Township’s pavements deteriorate.

This plan accounts for the preventative maintenance needed to prolong the useful life of the pavement. Following this plan will help the Woodlands Township become proactive rather than reactive in their future responsibilities tied to pavement management.