A Prototype Pavement Network Database and Geographic Information System Structure

The primary objective of this study is to develop a prototype database and geographic information system (GIS) structure for "network level" pavement management. The concepts of "sampling" and "uniform section" are proposed for domestic pavement network database structure and collection procedures based on the considerations of specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely principles. Relational database structure of a commercial software package is adopted in this study. Many tables of pavement inventory, rehabilitation, traffic, and survey data are recorded using their original data collection formats for the ease of recording and updating. A systematic approach using various sorting and matching techniques is developed to overcome the current deficiencies of such relational databases based on the principle of "dynamic segmentation." Summarized uniform section databases are generated for different survey years automatically. Consequently, a prototype pavement "NETwork Dynamic Segmentation Database (NETDSD)" structure is developed using Microsoft Visual Basic and Access software packages with many user-friendly interfaces for recording, updating, summarizing, query and reporting purposes. A concise GIS presentation feature is also added to the program. This prototype program can be used as the core for future development and integration of our domestic network pavement databases and network optimization analysis.