A multi-criteria decision framework for selecting preventive maintenance measures on asphalt pavement: a case study of the Liuzhou North Ring Expressway

In recent years, the rapid development and proliferation of highways in China have made asphalt pavement maintenance increasingly complex, requiring maintenance management departments to make practical choices of preventive maintenance measures within limited budgets. To improve comprehensiveness, scientific rigor, and the economy of decision-making, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to conduct a decision-optimization study of preventive maintenance measures for asphalt pavements. Taking the preventive maintenance project of the Liuzhou North Ring Expressway in Guangxi as a case study, maintenance measures were initially selected through road condition assessment and investigation. A multi-level, multi-objective decision-making AHP model was constructed, including an objective layer, a criterion layer, an indicator layer, and a scheme layer. By comprehensively considering maintenance needs and assigning values to multi-level factors, the weights and priorities of each maintenance measure were determined. The results show that the ranking and weight calculation of measures such as ultra-thin cover, composite seal coat, micro-surfacing, thin layer cover, and seal coat are relatively rational, and the theoretical analysis results are in good agreement with actual needs.