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Transportation Association of Canada

The development of the new 2011 Transportation Association of Canada
(TAC) Pavement Asset Design and Management Guide (PADMG) began in
September 2009.

The development of the new 2011 Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Pavement Asset Design and Management Guide (PADMG) began in September 2009. The project is a pooled fund study being sponsored by more than 20 Canadian public agencies including all 10 provincial Canadian Departments of Transportation, several major Canadian cities, several industry associations and the federal government. The effort is being led by a Canadian consortium team composed of consultants and academics from across Canada. The consortium team is composed of a diverse group of practitioners who have experience across Canada in the various areas of expertise pertinent to this guide. The new 2011 PADMG will be an up-to-date, practical consolidation of Canadian pavement design and management practice for practising engineers, managers and technicians. It will also be a valuable resource for college and university courses both in Canada and elsewhere. The guide will highlight key industry issues such as sustainability, climate change and new innovations.

Progress to date
One of the first major tasks in the development of the new 2011 PADMG was to carry out a stakeholder survey to determine current practices in Canada. Information collected in this survey covers the major practices areas in pavement design and management. The comprehensive survey included pavement preservation, maintenance and rehabilitation practices, usage of materials, classifications of road types and associated traffic/subgrade conditions, data collection types and methodologies, indices, pavement and asset management practices, construction practices and new innovations.

The members of the consortium team, in partnership with the TAC PADMG Project Steering Committee (PSC), have identified the prospective chapters in the new guide. Members of the consortium are reviewing reference materials both nationally and internationally as part of this task. For example the guide will include extensive review of proceedings and publications of TAC, Canadian Technical Asphalt Association (CTAA) proceedings, Canadian National Guide for Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure (NGSMI), Transportation Research Board (TRB) Records, United States National Highway Cooperative Research Program, NCHRP, Provincial Standards, and other applicable publications. In addition, during this phase, the consortium will begin to build the list of additional references to be included with each chapter.

The following chapters will be included in this guide: Introduction; Principles of asset management; Data requirements, Collection methods, and database; Sustainability in pavement engineering and management; Maintenance and rehabilitation treatments; Materials; Flexible pavement design; Rigid pavement design; Life cycle analysis of pavement designs; Role of construction; Role of maintenance; Network level needs analysis and priority programming; Principles of PMS and implementation, together with a final chapter on Issues, opportunities and future prospects.

Target page lengths for each chapter have been established, and a detailed schedule for drafts is currently in place to ensure the final 2011 PADMG is completed by September 2011. Each chapter is being written by a team of two to three consortium members. Peer review will be carried out by the consortium project manager and one other consortium team member who was not involved in the direct preparation of the chapter. A technical editor will then review the chapter to ensure the guide is professional and understandable. Finally, each chapter will be submitted to the PADMG PSC for their peer review and comment. The 2011 TAC PADMG will be written in a manner that is straightforward, consistent and easy to understand. Each chapter will be prepared to provide information for everyone from newly graduated engineers and technicians starting their careers, to senior engineers and managers who require information on complex issues.

In addition, training and workshop materials will be prepared by the consortium. This will include a comprehensive set of slides and speaker notes for use in training during the 2011 TAC Workshop at the Annual Fall Conference. As well, it is expected that there will be training across Canada. A primer for the guide will also be prepared under this contract. The primer will summarize the key pertinent features of the guide. The 2011 PADMG Primer will be directed to non-technical practitioners, executives and politicians responsible for managing assets. However, it will also serve as a tool for technical practitioners when dealing with their various stakeholders. The primer will outline the key subjects that are addressed in the guide, and briefly describe the current status of Canadian best practices and emerging trends including technology advancements. Green transportation technologies, climate change, and other topical technologies will be highlighted. The primer will also highlight the importance and various factors involved in the design and management of all pavements in the network including: rural and urban; gravel, surface treated, flexible and rigid; and local, collector, arterial and freeway functional classifications.

Dr. Susan Tighe, P.Eng, is a professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Waterloo. She is also the Consortium Project Manager of the 2011 Canadian PADMG.  The consortium team includes: David Hein, Applied Research Associates, Inc.; Donaldson MacLeod, Consultant; Daryl Nixon, EBA Engineering Consultants Ltd.; Ludomir Uzarowski, Golder Associates Ltd.; Guy Dore, Laval University; Harry Sturm, Stantec Consulting Ltd.; Lynne Cowe Falls, University of Calgary; Curtis Berthelot, University of Saskatchewan; Special Advisor: Ralph Haas, Special Advisor, University of Waterloo; and Catherine Thompson, technical editor.