Port of Long Beach Pavement Management System

Abstract: The Port of Long Beach (POLB) owns and maintains approximately 37 centerline miles of roadways, which are heavily used by terminal trucks (including overweight/oversized loads), commuters and others within the Long Beach Harbor District (District). These roads will provide access to all terminals within the POLB and are considered critical infrastructures for movements of cargoes in and out of the POLB. As a result, it is crucial for Port to keep these roadways in good condition to avoid any negative effects on POLB and its tenant’s business. With very high volumes of truck traffic and continuous development of the port facilities, the existing pavement system continues to deteriorate and be damaged and often times it requires repairs, rehabilitations, or reconstruction.

Currently, the POLB utilizes MicroPaver to maintain an existing pavement database. To better and more efficiently managing the roadway pavement conditions, POLB is in the process of upgrading its pavement management system (PMS). The new PMS will be able to develop short and long-term capital improvement program for upgrading and/or maintaining the existing pavement.

POLB started the process by conducting new pavement condition survey. Accuracy of inspection and proof of existing pavement condition are key factors for setting up a proper PMS system. The inspection was done using multi-functional vehicles (MFV) which equipped with 3-D Laser Crack Measurement System (LCMS). The pavement structural performance survey was also conducted by using heavy-weight deflectometer (HWD) coupled with ground penetrating radar (GPR) to determine the pavement structural adequacy and to assess the maintenance and rehabilitation performance as well as isolate any weak areas that might indicate poor pavement performance or construction deficiencies.

After completion of condition survey, the inspection data will be imported to the new PMS software for calculation of the Pavement Condition Index (PCI). Pavement performance prediction modeling will be performed which will be used to develop the required Capital Improvement Programs (CIP).

The focus of this paper is to discuss the importance of an up-to-date and flexible pavement management software for Port facilities, additional tasks that can be added to help develop the pavement performance prediction model, details of updating and maintaining meaningful data set, the steps taken to implement a functional and structural data-driven PMS, and how to use the PMS to develop comprehensive and realistic short and long-term maintenance and repair program.

How does this project / topic contribute to the advancement of the industry and profession?: Port of Long Beach is the second largest Port in United Stated. The intent of this paper is to share more inside into Port’s management of its infrastructure and planning for future capital investment to avoid any negative affects to Port and its tenants business. This could provide valuable information to other Port Authorities and Terminal Operators for management of their infrastructure assets.

Does the project / topic implement new and innovative techniques, materials, technologies, and delivery methods?: The project implemented an innovative approach to account for both pavement structural and functional performance as part of the Capital Improvement Plan development. In addition, state-of-the-art pavement data collection technology including heavy weight deflectometer, ground penetrating radar (GPR), inertial profilers and laser-based distress survey technology was used to implement a data-driven decision process that is unique to this project.

What was the most challenging aspect of your project / topic and how did you handle it to ensure success?: 1. Resolving discrepancies between the old data base and data needed for the new pavement management system.
2. Dealing with ongoing constructions and road realignment projects.
3. Conducting data collection while limiting traffic disruptions and Port operations. Significant logistics efforts were undertaken to coordinate with the Port and complete the data collection task successfully.

Who is the target audience for this paper?: This paper will appeal to Port Authorities, Civil, Pavement, and Geotechnical Engineers.