In Portugal, as in many other countries, due to the economic crisis, the trend of budgetary pressures on highway agencies is increasing. At the same time, road users are increasingly demanding in terms of highway quality, comfort and safety. Several highway projects have been delayed because of budget constraints. To meet these challenges highway agencies are looking for more cost–effective methodologies for pavement management at project–level. This paper presents a new pavement design optimization model, called OPTIPAV, which considers pavement performance, construction costs, maintenance and rehabilitation costs, user costs, the residual value of the pavement at the end of the project analysis period, and preventive maintenance and rehabilitation interventions. It was developed and programmed to help pavement designers to choose the best pavement structure for a road or highway. The results obtained by the application of the new pavement design optimization model clearly indicate that it is a valuable addition to the road engineer's toolbox.

pavement design, pavement performance model; optimisation model