Municipal Engineering

Van Cleef Engineering Associates performed a road rating analysis for the Township of Hopewell using a quantitative rating system that used field measurements to determine the road’s rating. This quantitative method was much more accurate and eliminated any error in judgement that may have existed with the prior qualitative methods.

The road network in Hopewell Township was broken down into two separate categories. Roads that have historically received surface treatment (chip seal) are categorized as ST (Surface Treatment), while roads that have been constructed with separate base and top layers of hot mix asphalt are categorized as AC (Asphalt Concrete). It is necessary to distinguish between these two categories of roads, as their construction and maintenance techniques are drastically different.

The 2022 road ratings were completed using a software package called PAVER 7 – Pavement Management System, developed by The Colorado State University for the US Army Corps of Engineers, July 2021. To input existing pavement conditions into the software, Van Cleef Engineering Associates sent out inspectors to each road. The inspectors chose random sample areas on each road. The sample areas were inspected for twenty different types of pavement failures with the quantity of failure being measured and recorded. The data obtained was entered into the PAVER 7 system. The PAVER 7 system used an ASTM standard method to determine the Pavement Condition Index (PCI) for each road. PCI’s range from one hundred (good condition) to 0 (failed conditions). The results were summarized in a report and accompany spreadsheet that would later be used to develop a Multiyear Pavement Management Plan.