Overview of Pavement Management System in Korea and its Operation Results

Roads in Korea have been extended drastically in their lengths with high demand for highway construction caused by the economic upsurge in the early 1970s and they are playing a significant role as a key facility to support sustainable economic growth ever since. Importance of roads is growing even more as a social infrastructure indispensable to support industrial growth and improve quality of life.

Among various road components, pavement has a direct impact on the ride comfort of road users. It can also cause damage to, and energy consumption of vehicles. As the road pavement is damaged by vehicle traffic and environmental impacts over time, periodic maintenance is essential to keep pavement in good condition.

However, as the length of roads to be managed increased, costs required for operation and maintenance of roads rose accordingly, and as the costs increased, an objective, rational, and systematic arrangement for managing pavement was required. In other words, as many entities were competing over limited budget, the budgeting authority began to require evidence that apportioned budget was spent most efficiently. Therefore, road manager needs to manage road pavement in a more objective and systematic method unlike in the past and requires a pavement management approach that can meet such requirements systematically through various studies, analyses and forecasts.

Various inspection equipment and analysis systems have been introduced from advanced countries to ensure efficiency in national road pavement management since 1987 and efforts have made to adapt the latest technologies to local requirements.

This paper reviewed the status of national highway PMS in Korea and operated results of PMS in 2006 and analyzed the situation before and after introduction of PMS. As a result, it was analyzed that traffic volume was dramatically increased, but the pavement condition was improved and rehabilitation budget is decreased after introduction of PMS.