Estimating Pavement Cost in Texas Using a Mechanistic-Empirical Proportional Consumption Approach

The state of Texas heavily relies on its extensive surface transportation network to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of goods and people. However, the increased demand for roads, alongside limited funding exacerbated by the rise of fuel-efficient and electric vehicles, has led to a higher-than-normal deterioration of the highway infrastructure. To address this issue, the Texas Legislature has explored alternative funding sources and strategic budget allocation options. A promising approach involves revising the permitting fee structure for oversize and overweight (OS/OW) vehicles to reflect their pavement consumption costs, which could significantly contribute to pavement maintenance funding. This study proposes a modular approach, which incorporates traffic data, to calculate overall pavement consumption costs per mile for different truck loads and configurations, as well as pavement types and failure criteria. This approach enables a more data-driven framework to adjusting the OS/OW permit fees. The methodology incorporates the equivalent consumption factor to estimate pavement performance, and vehicle miles traveled to account for the traffic volume. The findings offer valuable insight into pavement lifecycle analysis, highlighting a viable funding mechanism through the adjustment of permit fees to supplement maintenance costs, thereby supporting a sustainable long-term pavement management program in Texas.