Evaluación vial y plan de rehabilitación y mantenimiento de la vía Azogues- Cojitambo- Déleg- La Raya

Abstract

To have an adequate road infrastructure allows the development of any region. Therefore, the road maintenance is important to ensure the proper road performance. Considering that in our country, during the last years, there has been a great investment in road projects and many of them do not have an adequate maintenance, they present premature damages, it is therefore necessary to carry out the road evaluation and establish a rehabilitation and maintenance plan. The present investigation evaluates the current condition of the Azogues-Cojitambo-Déleg- La Raya road, important artery of the Cañar province, which has been classified as a type I road, interprovincial, based on the results of Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT = 4723), determined by vehicle counting conducted as part of the present investigation, of which approximately 80% corresponds to light vehicle traffic. From field analysis, it was determined that the road is highly deteriorated, where the lithological composition in combination with the action of external factors such as runoff, rainfall, repeated action of traffic and lack of maintenance accelerate the pavement deterioration processes, presenting several failures. The most common failures are; Alligator cracking, cracking, depressions, potholes, aggregate polishing. Through visual inspection and following the PCI methodology, a pavement condition index of 41 has been established, which corresponds to a "Bad" condition. This result serves to propose the activities to remedy and /or repair the different damages found on the pavement, such as overlays and reconstructions in destroyed sections. These alternatives were designed according to the recommendations given by the AASHTO-93. Additionally, a path is presented for the road conservation activities and a description of the technical specifications and working procedure of each activity and the critical points to be intervened. The work proposed here serves as a working tool for government entities to carry out the necessary activities in the road and /or roads of similar characteristics. It should become a base element of the pavement management system in the area.