CLIENT OBJECTIVE

Provide a heavy haul pricing schedule for Rural Municipalities (RMs) in Saskatchewan as one means of funding road maintenance activities to sustain acceptable service levels for all road users.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Develop and apply credible, engineering-based models to estimate road asset consumption for municipal gravel roads.
Develop life cycle cost (LCC) based pricing schedule for heavy haul trucking across municipal roadways and over differing seasons (winter, spring, summer and fall).

STEPS

Worked with our client to design and develop engineering and economic model to estimate road asset consumption and corresponding damage costs associated with heavy haul trucking on municipal gravel roadways.
Developed statistical model linking mechanistic model parameters (soil type, soil moisture, freeze / thaw, heavy and light vehicle volumes, road class, etc.) to treatment activities (blading and regravelling) to LCCs.
Developed and applied survey instruments to gather relevant data from experienced maintenance personnel across differing RMs.
Employed regression analysis to build statistical road pricing models from survey data.
Leveraged results to suggest credible, seasonally varying road pricing schedule for heavy vehicles traveling RM roads.
Communicated with a steering committee and knowledgeable stakeholders throughout the process in order to make sure we met the expectations of all parties involved.