MNDOT Required to Evaluate All Paving Projects via Life Cycle Costs

News from Governor Pawlenty’s Office: The news from the Minnesota Governor’s Office is that he has signed legislation that will change the way the MNDOT will select materials for pavements. The legislation was heavily promoted by the Concrete Paving Association of Minnesota, its members and other concrete pavement suppliers and stakeholders. The legislation is simple in its content. It essentially requires the MNDOT to evaluate all projects via Life Cycle Cost Analysis using equal design lives. Plus, it fills a void in pavement selection issues for the highway maintenance/construction area. Matt Zeller from the CPAM noted that, “This law will now ask the MNDOT to offer concrete pavement overlay options to complement the many thin asphalt overlay projects filling the bid lettings.” Below is the text of the approved legislation.  PAVEMENT LIFE-CYCLE COST ANALYSIS. Subdivision 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following definitions apply. (a) "Life-cycle cost" is the sum of the cost of the initial pavement project and all anticipated costs for maintenance, repair, and resurfacing over the life of the pavement. Anticipated costs must be based on Minnesota's actual or reasonably projected maintenance, repair, and resurfacing schedules, and costs determined by the Department of Transportation district personnel based upon recently awarded local projects and experience with local material costs. (b) "Life-cycle cost analysis" is a comparison of life-cycle costs among competing paving materials using equal design lives and equal comparison periods. Subd. 2. Required analysis. For each project in the reconditioning, resurfacing, and road repair funding categories, the commissioner shall perform a life-cycle cost analysis and shall document the lowest life-cycle costs and all alternatives considered. The commissioner shall document the chosen pavement strategy and, if the lowest life cycle is not selected, document the justification for the chosen strategy. A life-cycle cost analysis is required for projects to be constructed after July 1, 2011. For projects to be constructed prior to July 1, 2011, when feasible, the department will use its best efforts to perform life-cycle cost analyses. Subd. 3. Report. The commissioner shall report annually to the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and house of representatives committees with jurisdiction over transportation finance beginning on January 1, 2012, the results of the analyses required in subdivision 2.