Cost Estimating Model for Sustainable Rehabilitation of Road Projects

There are about 3,000,000 miles and 50,000 miles of paved roads and highways in the US, respectively. Many of these roads and highways have approached the end of their design life and are considered to be in poor conditions. To upgrade these valuable infrastructure assets in a sustainable manner, state and federal governments have suggested the use of the rubberized asphalt technology. The use of this sustainable rehabilitation technique has been suggested to meet the current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own demands. This research develops a cost estimating system for the rubberized asphalt road rehabilitation projects. The proposed system uses information collected from 44 projects and applies neural networks for performing its task. It is believed to be a helpful tool that could be used in many road project applications such as preparation of accurate budget estimates and life-cost analysis. It is also considered to be an efficient tool that could be used to manage financial resources in limited budget environments.