Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Effectiveness of Crack Sealing Techniques

Crack sealing is an important preventive treatment in the pavement preservation program. To achieve a cost-effective crack seal; it is important to select a proper crack sealing method. While Minnesota usually seals cracks in asphalt pavements; there is no clear consensus on the most appropriate crack sealing method for a specific job. This study focused on developing a guideline so that a cost-effective crack sealing method could be chosen based on pavement type; functional condition; pavement age; and traffic volume etc. This study includes a literature review; online survey; field performance data collection and analysis; and development of a guideline. The effectiveness of the crack seals was determined using a benefit-cost analysis. Two decision trees were developed for choosing the most appropriate crack sealing method. The first; which can be used in MnDOT's pavement management system; needs information such as crack severity; pavement type (new vs overlay); pavement analysis period and design life; traffic level; and crack seal occurrence number. The second decision tree; which is a simplified version of the first and can be used by the preventive maintenance crews and requires less information: crack severity; traffic level; and crack sealing occurrence number.