Development of Surfacing Criteria for Low-Volume Roads in South Dakota (05-1951)**
Angela S. Wolters, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc.
Kathryn A. Zimmerman, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc.
David L. Huft, South Dakota Department of Transportation
Paul A. Oien, South Dakota Department of Transportation

On a daily basis, local road agencies in South Dakota face the challenge of how to cost-effectively maintain low-volume roads. Specifically, agencies are faced with the decision of determining when it is most economical to maintain, upgrade, or downgrade a road’s existing surface. In order to assist decision makers with these types of maintenance and rehabilitation decisions, the South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) initiated a research study in 2002 to investigate surfacing criteria for low-volume roads (LVR). The overall objective of this research study is to create a process that allows the user to compare the costs associated with different types of roads to provide assistance in deciding which surface type (hot-mix asphalt [HMA], blotter, gravel, or stabilized gravel) is most economical under a specific set of circumstances. In addition to incorporating economic factors into the analysis, the process allows the user to consider other non-economic factors that are more subjective and difficult to quantify. The process used during this study is flexible enough to allow users to consider any combination of agency costs incurred by the agency for maintaining its roads, non-agency (user) cost factors such as vehicle operating costs or crash potential, and non-economic factors such as politics and housing densities. The methodology was created using agency cost and user cost models that were developed based upon specific road section information supplied by various local agencies in South Dakota, average daily traffic (ADT) and crash occurrence information supplied by the SDDOT, information obtained through a literature search, and input from members of the project’s Technical Panel.