Book Description

Prior to 1976, federal highway funds could only be used for the construction of new highways or the reconstruction of existing highways. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1976 allowed the use of federal aid for resurfacing, restoration, and rehabilitation (3R) projects on federal-aid highways. However, in 1976 there were no standards for 3R improvements. The TRB National Cooperative Highway Research Program's NCHRP Research Report 876: Guidelines for Integrating Safety and Cost-Effectiveness into Resurfacing, Restoration, and Rehabilitation (3R) Projects presents a rational approach for estimating the cost-effectiveness of including safety and operational improvements in a resurfacing, restoration, or rehabilitation (3R) project. The approach uses the performance of the existing road in estimating the benefits and cost-effectiveness of proposed design improvements. These guidelines are intended to replace TRB Special Report 214: Designing Safer Roads: Practices for Resurfacing, Restoration, and Rehabilitation. Supplemental materials include NCHRP Web-Only Document 244: Developing Guidelines for Integrating Safety and Cost-Effectiveness into Resurfacing, Restoration, and Rehabilitation (3R) Projects. Two spreadsheet tools for benefit-cost analysis in support of design decisions for 3R projects also accompany the report. Spreadsheet Tool 1 is a tool for analysis of a single design alternative or combination of alternatives. Spreadsheet Tool 2 is a tool for comparison of several design alternatives or combinations of alternatives.