This study is the product of a planning process that incorporates the following steps:
• Identification of the critical operational elements that influence the function under study — in this case, highway maintenance;
• Determination of the inter-relationship of these elements;
• Isolation of patterns of change;
• Identification of the future magnitude of these operational elements;
• Assessment of future external or "environmental" pressures (economic, social, technological and political);
• Development of a future posture based upon this assembled intelligence.
The projections derived from this analysis rely on both the application of historically clarified trends and their extrapolation through the use of economic indicators and other factors consistently used in determining general trends in business activities. These factors serve as a basis for predicting change. When a number of such factors are viewed simultaneously, they help to solidify the projection probability. Assembled intelligence, concerning past operations and the external environmental conditions, provides necessary knowledge required to make assumptions and decisions about the future posture of highway maintenance.
