Preliminary Flexible Pavement Rehabilitation Design

The development of a knowledged-based expert system to assist ~he New Mex~co State Highway and Transportation Department m the evaluation and design of rehabilitation schemes for flexible pavements is described. The system uses information provided by users to establish preliminary rehabilitation schemes that would be reasonable and cost-effective. A cost-estimate module for ~anking th~ rehabilitation schemes according to relative cost is mtegrated mto the system. The need for such a system in New Mexico and the knowledge base used to construct the IF-THENELSE type rules in the expert system are described and the d.istress condi~ions addres~ed and the rehabilitation strat~gies considered are discussed. The system is rich in the sense that it also distinguishes among distress situations requiring routine maintenance ~s opposed to rehabilitation requiring more extensive ~onst~ctlon efforts. An example session using the expert system 1s provided.