Fort Hood (Texas) pavement condition surveys and management plan updates

Project Summary

Hanson, under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, has provided PCI surveys for more than 9 million square yards of roads, parking and tank trails at Fort Hood. The project has consisted of providing pavement inventory for asset management and evaluating the conditions of pavements. The scope has included: 

  • linear segmentation inventory
  • MicroPAVER database creation, including history and GIS
  • condition data collection
  • field inspections, data analysis and verification, prediction model development, cost analysis and capital program development
  • preparation of a report that summarizes the findings and serves as a guidebook for the client

“Hanson and APTECH did very good work on the PAVER implementation and roadways evaluation report for Fort Hood. The work was completed on schedule. Some of the roadway segments were changed during the study effort at no added cost to the contract. A very good roadway evaluation document was presented to Fort Hood Directorate of Public Works and Installation Management Command.” — Terry Sherman, director, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transportation Systems Center

The client retained Hanson in 2014, 2015 and 2016, 2018 and 2019 to continue the pavement management update of an additional 4 million square yards of roads and parking lots at Fort Hood. Working under an indefinite delivery contract, the Hanson team implemented MicroPAVER, conducting pavement condition surveys and determining the pavement condition index (PCI) for concrete and bituminous roadways, airfields, parking lots and other pavements, including tank pads at 20 U.S. Army and Air Force bases across the U.S.

Hanson implemented in-house training for inspectors and equipped them with rugged, handheld computers with integrated wireless, geo-coding cameras and GPS so they could locate and delineate sample boundaries in the field. This reduces inspection time and minimizes disruptions to base operations by allowing them to record defects into PAVER Field Inspector software for near-real-time results. Using this technology, the PCI is calculated for each section instantaneously when the last sample is inspected. It also enables inspectors to randomly select a percentage of all samples to be reviewed on a daily basis by a separate inspection crew for a continuous quality-control comparison.

This project promotes sustainability with the development of thoughtful pavement management plans and programs in the sense that the public works decision makers at Fort Hood are better able to direct limited budgets toward critical projects. They do not need to have unnecessary repairs made to less-critical facilities. Routine pavement management prolongs the lifetime of the pavement, delaying major reconstruction projects that require new materials and resources.