5.
1 Highway Maintenance Works – Day-to-Day and Periodic
Maintenance of Various Components of Road Works and Road
Furniture
Highway maintenance is an essential activity aimed at preserving the road asset,
ensuring safety of road users and maintaining acceptable riding quality throughout
the service life of the pavement. According to IRC:82-2015, maintenance activities
for bituminous roads are broadly classified into day-to-day (routine) maintenance and
periodic maintenance. These activities help in reducing the rate of pavement
deterioration, lowering vehicle operating costs, minimizing accidents and avoiding
premature reconstruction.
Day-to-day or routine maintenance refers to those activities which are carried out
continuously throughout the year to rectify minor defects as soon as they appear.
These works primarily include filling of potholes, sealing of cracks, patch repairs,
removal of loose aggregates and correction of localized surface defects. Routine
maintenance also covers cleaning of side drains and culverts to ensure free flow of
water, as inadequate drainage is one of the main causes of pavement failure.
Maintenance of shoulders is equally important and includes filling of edge
depressions, maintaining shoulder slope and preventing edge cracking due to lack of
lateral support. In addition, routine maintenance extends to road furniture such as
repainting of faded road markings, repair and replacement of damaged traffic signs,
maintenance of guardrails, parapets and delineators to ensure road safety.
Periodic maintenance, on the other hand, is carried out at predetermined intervals or
based on pavement condition surveys. It involves more extensive works compared to
routine maintenance and aims at restoring the functional performance of the
pavement. Periodic maintenance includes surface renewals such as bituminous
overlays, surface dressing, slurry seal or microsurfacing. Profile correction is an
important part of periodic maintenance and involves rectification of rutting,
undulations and depressions by providing leveling courses before laying overlays. In
some cases, limited structural strengthening may also be undertaken where the
pavement shows signs of weakness but does not require full rehabilitation.
Thus, day-to-day maintenance ensures continuous serviceability of the road, while
periodic maintenance restores riding quality and extends pavement life. IRC:82
emphasizes that timely execution of both types of maintenance is essential for
economical and sustainable management of road infrastructure.
B. Periodic Maintenance
Periodic maintenance is carried out at specified intervals or based on pavement
condition surveys.
1. Surface Renewals
Bituminous overlay
Surface dressing
Slurry seal / microsurfacing
2. Profile Correction
Rectification of rutting and undulations
Leveling course before overlay
3. Structural Upgradation (Limited)
Strengthening weak pavement layers where required
According to IRC:82, periodic renewal should be undertaken before pavement
condition rating falls below “Fair”
5.2 Preventive Maintenance of Road Drainage, Pavements and
Other Components – Preparation of Existing Pavement
Preventive maintenance is a planned maintenance strategy adopted when the
pavement is still in fair to good condition, with the objective of slowing down
deterioration and extending service life. IRC:82-2015 highlights that preventive
maintenance is far more cost-effective than rehabilitation or reconstruction, provided
it is applied at the right time and on suitable pavements.
Maintenance of road drainage forms the foundation of preventive maintenance, as
water is the most destructive element affecting flexible pavements. Preventive
measures include regular cleaning and reshaping of side drains, removal of silt and
vegetation from culverts, ensuring proper cross slope and camber, and sealing of
shoulders to prevent ingress of surface water into pavement layers. Effective
drainage prevents saturation of subgrade and base layers, thereby improving
pavement performance.
Preventive maintenance of pavements includes treatments such as crack sealing,
fog seal, slurry seal and microsurfacing. Crack sealing is carried out to prevent water
from entering the pavement through longitudinal, transverse or hairline cracks. Fog
seal is applied on dry and hungry surfaces to rejuvenate aged bitumen and seal fine
cracks. Slurry seal and microsurfacing are used to improve surface texture, skid
resistance and to address minor surface defects without adding structural strength.
Before undertaking any renewal or overlay, proper preparation of the existing
pavement is essential. This includes patching of potholes and failed areas by
removing damaged material, applying tack coat and filling with suitable premix
material followed by compaction. Profile correction is carried out to rectify rutting,
depressions and unevenness so that the new overlay performs satisfactorily.
Cleaning of the pavement surface to remove dust, loose particles and contaminants
is necessary to ensure adequate bond between the existing surface and the new
layer.
Preventive maintenance improves riding quality, enhances safety, reduces future
maintenance costs and significantly delays the need for major rehabilitation. IRC:82
strongly recommends adopting preventive maintenance strategies as part of
systematic pavement management.
B. Preventive Maintenance of Pavements
1. Crack Sealing
Use of bitumen emulsion or rubberized bitumen
Prevents water entry into lower layers
2. Surface Treatments
Fog seal for dry and hungry surfaces
Slurry seal for minor surface defects
Microsurfacing for texture and skid resistance
5.3 Special Measures for Reflection Cracks, Slipperiness of
Surface – Requirements for Rehabilitation, Recycling and
Reconstruction
Certain pavement distresses such as reflection cracking and surface slipperiness
cannot be effectively controlled through routine or preventive maintenance alone and
require special measures. Reflection cracks are cracks that appear on the surface
due to movement of joints or cracks in the underlying pavement layers, particularly in
bituminous overlays laid over cement concrete pavements or cracked flexible
pavements.
Reflection cracking occurs due to differential movement caused by temperature
variation, moisture changes and traffic loading in the underlying layers. Special
measures recommended by IRC:82 include sealing of cracks using rubberized
bitumen, application of stress absorbing membrane (SAM) or stress absorbing
membrane interlayer (SAMI), and milling followed by surface recycling. These
treatments help in absorbing stresses and delaying the propagation of cracks to the
surface.
Slipperiness of pavement surface is another serious issue affecting road safety,
especially during wet weather conditions. It is commonly caused by bleeding or fatty
surfaces, polishing of aggregates under traffic and smooth surface texture.
Corrective measures include spreading of coarse sand or pre-coated chips to absorb
excess binder, application of slurry seal or microsurfacing to restore texture, and
resurfacing with open-graded premix carpet using non-polishing aggregates. IRC
emphasizes maintaining adequate skid resistance to reduce accidents.
When pavement distress becomes severe and affects structural capacity,
rehabilitation becomes necessary. Rehabilitation involves strengthening the
pavement through thick overlays, partial depth reconstruction or other strengthening
measures based on structural evaluation. In cases where materials can be reused,
recycling techniques are encouraged. Recycling involves reuse of reclaimed asphalt
pavement through hot or cold in-place recycling, which conserves natural resources,
reduces cost and is environmentally sustainable.
Reconstruction is adopted only when the pavement has failed completely and cannot
be economically rehabilitated. It involves removal of all pavement layers and
reconstruction with improved design, materials and drainage provisions.
In conclusion, IRC:82 advocates timely adoption of special maintenance measures,
rehabilitation, recycling and reconstruction based on pavement condition, ensuring
safety, sustainability and cost-effective management of road infrastructure.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is undertaken when pavement condition becomes structurally
inadequate.
Methods
Thick bituminous overlays
Partial depth reconstruction
Strengthening based on deflection studies
(Design aspects are covered under IRC:37 and IRC:81).
D. Recycling
Advantages
Conservation of aggregates and bitumen
Reduction in construction cost
Environment friendly
Techniques
Hot in-place recycling
Cold in-place recycling
Use of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP)
E. Reconstruction
Complete reconstruction is adopted when:
Pavement has failed structurally
Severe rutting, cracking, and deformation exist
Includes removal of all layers and reconstruction with improved materials and
design.