 Managing maintenance for low-volume unpaved roads is unique. This course presents basic background details, typical maintenance problems, and typical maintenance activities associated with low-volume unpaved roads. It also covers recommended procedures for developing and implementing simplified procedures for managing maintenance on low-volume unpaved roads. Unpaved roads can be constructed using a wide variety of materials, too many to describe in one course. As a result, in this course, we will concentrate on one of the most common types of low-volume roads. As an example, gravel roads, which are typically six meters or wider. Maintenance managers encounter a variety of maintenance problems on low-volume gravel roads. Dust formation is caused by traffic. Ravelling or disaggregation of the surface and loosening of the course aggregates also occurs. Rutting also occurs in all low-volume gravel road surfaces. Road surface erosion and potholes occur on gravel roads, especially when the longitudinal slope is over 4%. Gravel roads begin to deteriorate significantly when the longitudinal slope is over 7%. Corrigation is also typical in gravel roads. Roughness and upheaval distress occur in gravel roads because of subgrade movement or pavement instability. The typical engineering properties associated with the different types of low-volume gravel roads include different traveling speeds and vehicle weights associated with terrain, materials and environments. Traveling speeds typically range from 25 kilometers per hour on curvy roads to 40 kilometers per hour on hilly sections. Maintenance is typically divided into three categories. Routine, periodic and emergency work. Routine maintenance activities include such tasks as gravel pothole repair with production rates of 8 to 15 square meters per day, culvert cleaning at the rate of 6 to 8 per day, hand ditch cleaning at the rate of 1 to 3 kilometers of ditch per day and hand vegetation control with accomplishment of 0.5 to 0.6 hectares per day. Periodic maintenance activities include key activities such as regravelling. Crews typically can complete 250 to 300 cubic meters of regravelling each day. When doing surface grading, they can usually finish 3 to 4 kilometers per day. Using a grater for ditch cleaning, about 3 to 5 kilometers of ditching can be accomplished per day. About 1 to 2 culverts can be replaced per day and about 1 to 2 hectares of vegetation control by machine can be done each day. The final type of work is emergency work. It includes landslide removal by machine, snow removal and emergency pavement restoration. In order to accomplish these tasks in an organized and standard manner, it is suggested that basic work method statements are developed. A typical work statement for gravel pothole patching is shown here. In the example, to produce 8 cubic meters of gravel patching, it is necessary to use one hand compactor, one-third of an 8-ton dump truck and a complete set of hand tools. The required labor for this activity includes one foreman, 8 unskilled laborers and one-third of a driver. The maintenance work statement also gives a short description of the work method. You will also want to prepare a simple road and bridge inventory to provide updated information for maintenance planning in terms of volume of work and resource requirements. To prepare a proper inventory, you should include the following elements. Identification of each road link, location of roadway features, coding and determination of the level of accessibility of the local population and agricultural production. Engineering properties, length, width, type of road and terrain, number of culverts and bridges, type and length of ditches and number and type of traffic control devices, field evaluation, number and size of potholes, surface conditions, density and height of vegetation, slope failure hazards, performance of drainage facilities, types of soils and material haulage distance, other observations, special maintenance needs and suggestions for repair of pavement, drainage facilities, bridges and other elements included in the right-of-way. One engineering team can inventory and evaluate approximately 50 kilometers of rural roads a day. The annual needs for gravel pothole patching would be calculated as follows. GPP equals the total annual amount of gravel pothole patching. LNG equals the length of road segments. MSL equals the maintenance service level of gravel patching in cubic meters per kilometer. And AF equals the adjustment factor of the current road condition. For example, 3.3 kilometers of road was evaluated as being in very poor condition. This required that the volume of maintenance work should be increased by 20%. In other words, the adjustment factor AF equals 1.2. The annual maintenance service level MSL of patching is 6 cubic meters. Therefore, the annual gravel patching needs of this activity for this road are 3.3 kilometers times 6 cubic meters per kilometer times 1.2, the adjustment factor, equaling 23.8 cubic meters per year. In addition to the work needs that were determined by the overall maintenance plan just described, other maintenance needs result from the following conditions. Deficiencies that were encountered during regular field inspection. Deficiencies that were noticed by crew foremen while performing another work activity. And requests for maintenance services by users, usually in the form of complaints and emergencies. Once an inventory is taken and conditions noted, you should begin development of the annual program requirements for labor, equipment, and materials. The annual program is based on total annual work volume for each activity, the daily production of each activity, and the requirements for labor and equipment needed to meet the daily production. For example, the annual work volume of gravel pothole patching is 3,500 cubic meters. The daily production is 8 cubic meters. Therefore, the annual crew days are 3,500 divided by 8, or 437 crew days. Therefore, the annual number of work days for this activity is 437 times 1, which equals 437 work days for the foremen, 437 times 8, equaling 3,496 work days for unskilled laborers, and 437 times .33, equaling 144 work days for drivers. Programming of equipment days is similar. The number of equipment days needed to perform activity 111R is 3,500 divided by 8, equaling 437 equipment days. Each equipment day includes .33 dump trucks. Therefore, the annual number of equipment days needed to perform activity 111R is 437 times .33, which equals 145 equipment days for the dump truck. A detailed monthly schedule enables the field crew to clearly understand its short-term maintenance work objectives. Experience indicates that without a sound short-term schedule, crews frequently perform the easiest and most convenient tasks instead of those that are actually required. Experience indicates that work schedules for rural roads should be prepared for monthly periods. The actual preparation should be undertaken as a joint effort between the engineers and foremen who will be responsible for the work. Once the requirements and needs for labor, equipment, and materials have been determined and before the schedules are prepared, consideration must be given to the following timing, location, duration of work, and resource requirements. The preparation of the annual budget is the next task in the maintenance management procedure. This task is rather simple once the annual and monthly resource needs for equipment, labor, and materials are known. A detailed unit price analysis is performed to achieve an accurate cost estimate. A simple computerized cost analysis that includes the economic costs of equipment, labor, material, haul distance, and rate of production is completed to determine the direct cost for each maintenance activity. For each direct cost there are other indirect expenditures such as overhead, contingencies, supervision, and profit if the work is performed by a private contractor. Work monitoring and control is the last step in the process. The management of rural roads maintenance only requires the use of a simple field report that can easily be implemented on the site by the foreman or a senior crew member to report and control work. The purposes of the field reports are to identify and control the volume of work for each maintenance activity for each road. To update and adjust the rate of production for the different activities and road locations. And to update the maintenance needs and requirements for labor, equipment, and materials and schedules of future work. The field report includes accurate and reliable descriptions of work location, work accomplished, personnel, equipment, materials, and any special problem observed during the actual field operation. This information can be easily stored in a personal computer and has been found to be very useful in increasing production and improving the quality of maintenance work. In addition, the field information is valuable for any statistical analysis regarding the conditions and needs of maintenance equipment. In this course, we've covered the basics of managing maintenance for low volume roads. We covered typical maintenance problems associated with gravel roads. Maintenance activities, road and bridge inventory, work planning, labor or equipment programming, scheduling, budgeting, and work monitoring and control. For more information on this or other IRF videotapes, write to the International Road Federation or call the numbers on your screen.