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THE ROLE OF HDM-4 IN ROAD MANAGEMENT

by

Henry R Kerali*

ABSTRACT

The Highway Development and Management Tools collectively referred to as HDM-4, is the
successor to the World Bank Highway Design and Maintenance Standards Model (HDM-III).
The scope of the new HDM-4 tools have been broadened considerably beyond traditional
project appraisals, to provide a powerful system for the analysis of road management and
investment alternatives. In addition to updating the HDM-III technical relationships for vehicle
operating costs, and pavement deterioration for flexible and unsealed pavements, new technical
relationships have been introduced to model rigid concrete pavement deterioration, accident
costs, traffic congestion, energy consumption and environmental effects. The HDM-4
incorporates three dedicated applications tools for project level analysis, road work
programming under constrained budgets, and for strategic planning of long term network
performance and expenditure needs. It is designed to be used as a decision support tool within a
road management system. Standard data import and export facilities are provided for linking
HDM-4 to various database management systems. Local adaptation and calibration of HDM-4
models can be achieved by specifying default data sets that represent pavement performance
and vehicle resource consumption in the country where the model is being used.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Highway Design and Maintenance Standards Model (HDM-III), developed by the World
Bank (Harral et al, 1987; Watanatada et al, 1988), has been used for over two decades to
combine technical and economic appraisals of road investment projects, and to analyse
strategies and standards. An international study has been carried out to extend the scope of the
HDM-III model, and to provide a harmonised systems approach to road management, with
adaptable and user-friendly software tools. This has resulted in the development of the Highway
Development and Management Tool (HDM-4) (Kerali 2000, Odoki and Kerali 2000). The
scope of the HDM-4 tool has been broadened considerably beyond traditional project appraisals,
to provide a powerful system for the analysis of road management and investment alternatives.
Emphasis was placed on collating and applying existing knowledge, rather than undertaking
major new empirical studies, although some limited data collection has been undertaken.
Wherever possible, creative new approaches were developed for applying technical knowledge
to the management needs of different countries.

1.1 Functions and cycles

When considering the HDM-4 applications, it is convenient to view the highway management
process in terms of the following functions (Robinson et al, 1988):
• Planning
• Programming

*
School of Civil Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom.

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• Preparation
• Operations

1.1.1 Planning
This involves an analysis of the road system as a whole, typically requiring the preparation of
long term, or strategic, planning estimates of expenditure for road development and preservation
under various budgetary and economic scenarios. Predictions may be made of expenditure
under selected budget heads, and forecasts of highway conditions in terms of key indicators,
under a variety of funding levels. The physical highway system is usually characterised at the
planning stage by lengths of road, or percentages of the network, in various categories defined
by parameters such as road class or hierarchy, traffic flow/capacity, pavement and physical
condition. The results of the planning exercise are of most interest to senior policy makers in the
road sector, both political and professional. Work will often be undertaken by a planning or
economics unit within a road agency.

1.1.2 Programming
This involves the preparation, under budget constraints, of multi-year road works and
expenditure programmes in which those sections of the network likely to require maintenance,
improvement, or new construction, are identified in a tactical planning exercise. The
programming activity produces estimates of expenditure, under different budget heads, for
different treatment types and for different years for each road section. Budgets are typically
constrained, and a key aspect of programming is to prioritise works to find the best value for
money in the case of a constrained budget. Typical applications are the preparation of a budget
for an annual or rolling multi-year work programme for a road network, or sub-network.
Programming activities are normally undertaken by managerial-level professionals within a road
agency, perhaps in a planning or a maintenance department.

1.1.3 Preparation
This is the short-term planning stage where road schemes are packaged for implementation. At
this stage, designs are refined and prepared in more detail; bills of quantities and detailed
costing are made, together with work instructions and contracts. Typical preparation activities
are: the detailed design of an overlay scheme; the detailed design of major works, such as a
junction or alignment improvement, lane addition, etc. For these activities, budgets will
normally already have been approved. Preparation activities are normally undertaken by
relatively junior professional staff and technicians in a technical department of a road agency,
and by contracts and procurement staff.

1.1.4 Operations
These activities cover the on-going operation of a road agency. Decisions about the
management of operations are made typically on a daily or weekly basis, including the
scheduling of work to be carried out, monitoring in terms of labour, equipment and materials,
the recording of work completed, and the use of this information for monitoring and control.
Activities are normally focused on individual road sections with measurements often being
made at a relatively detailed level. Operations are normally managed by sub-professional staff,
including works supervisors, technicians, clerks of works, and others.

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As the management process moves from planning through to operations, it will be seen that the
changes summarised in Table 1 occur.

Table 1: Change in management processes

Mode of
Activity Time horizon Responsible Staff Spatial coverage Data detail computer
operation
Planning Long term Senior management Network-wide Coarse/ Automatic
(strategic) and policy level summary
Programming Medium term Middle-level Network or sub-
(tactical) professionals network
Preparation Budget year Junior professionals Scheme level/
sections
Operations Immediate/ Technicians/ Scheme level/ Fine/detailed Interactive
very short term sub-professionals sub-sections

1.2 Management Functions

The highway management process as a whole can, therefore, be considered as a cycle of
activities that are undertaken within each of the management functions of planning,
programming, preparation and operations. This is summarised in Table 2 and provides the
framework within which HDM-4 needs to be considered.

Table 2: Role of HDM-4 within the Management Cycle

Management
function Examples of common descriptions HDM-4 Application
Planning Strategic analysis system
Network planning system Strategy Analysis
Pavement management system
Programming Programme analysis system
Pavement management system Programme Analysis
Budgeting system
Preparation Project analysis system
Pavement management system
Bridge management system Project Analysis
Pavement/overlay design system
Contract procurement system

2. HDM-4 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

The HDM-4 analytical framework is based on the concept of pavement life cycle analysis. This
is applied to predict the following over the life cycle of a road pavement, which is typically 15
to 40 years (Kerali, 2000):
• Road deterioration
• Road work effects
• Road user effects
• Socio - Economic and Environmental effects

Once constructed, road pavements deteriorate as a consequence of several factors, most notably:
• Traffic loading
• Environmental weathering
• Effect of inadequate drainage systems

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The rate of pavement deterioration is directly affected by the standards of maintenance applied
to repair defects on the pavement surface such as cracking, ravelling, potholes, etc., or to
preserve the structural integrity of the pavement (for example, surface treatments, overlays,
etc.), thereby permitting the road to carry traffic in accordance with its design function. The
overall long-term condition of road pavements directly depends on the maintenance or
improvement standards applied to the road. Figure 1 illustrates the predicted trend in pavement
performance represented by the riding quality that is often measured in terms of the international
roughness index (IRI). When a maintenance standard is defined, it imposes a limit to the level of
deterioration that a pavement is permitted to attain. Consequently, in addition to the capital costs
of road construction, the total costs that are incurred by road agencies will depend on the
standards of maintenance and improvement applied to road networks. It is essential to note that
the accuracy of the predicted pavement performance depends on the extent of calibration
applied to adapt the default HDM-4 models to local conditions.

The impacts of the road condition, as well the road design standards, on road users are measured
in terms of road user costs, and other social and environmental effects. Road user costs
comprise:
• Vehicle operation costs (fuel, tyres, oil, spare parts, vehicle depreciation , utilisation, etc.),
• Costs of travel time - for both passengers and cargo, due to road condition and traffic
congestion (Hoban, 1987), and
• Costs to the economy of road accidents (i.e., loss of life, injury to road users, damage to
vehicles and other roadside objects).

Poor

Maintenance Standard
Roughness

Pavement
Performance
Curve
Rehabilitation
Good

Time (years) or Traffic Loading

Figure 1: Concept of Life-cycle analysis in HDM-4

The social and environmental effects comprise vehicle emissions, energy consumption, traffic
noise and other welfare benefits to the population served by the roads. Although the social and
environmental effects of often difficult to quantify in monetary terms, they can be incorporated
within the HDM-4 economic analyses if quantified externally. It should be noted that in HDM-
4, road user effects can be calculated for both motorised transport (motorcycles, cars, buses,
trucks, etc.) and non-motorised transport (bicycles, human powered tricycles, animal pulled
carts, etc.). Figure 2 illustrates the impact of road condition (represented in terms of the IRI) on
the costs of different modes of road transport.

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2.5
1. Motorcycle
2. Car Medium
3. Microbus
4. Light Delivery Van
2.0
5. Big Bus
6. Rigid Truck 2 axles
Road User Cost per Veh-km ($/km)

7. Rigid Truck + Trailer

8. Artic. Truck + Trailer
1.5 9. Artic. + 2 semi trailers

8
1.0

0.5 5
4
3
2

0.0
1.0 3.0 5.0 7.0 9.0 11.0 13.0 15.0
Average Roughness (IRI)

Figure 2: Effect of Road Condition on Vehicle Operating Costs for Rolling Terrain

Road User Costs in HDM-4 are calculated by predicting physical quantities of resource
consumption and then multiplying these quantities by the corresponding user specified unit
costs. It is necessary to ensure that the vehicle resource quantities predicted are in keeping with
the range of values observed in the area of application.

Economic benefits from road investments are then determined by comparing the total cost
streams for various road works and construction alternatives against a base case (without project
or do minimum) alternative, usually representing the minimum standard of routine maintenance.
HDM-4 is designed to make comparative cost estimates and economic analyses of different
investment options. It estimates the costs for a large number of alternatives year-by-year for a
user-defined analysis period. All future costs are discounted to the specified base year. In order
to make these comparisons, detailed specifications of investment programmes, design standards,
and maintenance alternatives are needed, together with unit costs, projected traffic volumes, and
environmental conditions.

3. HDM-4 APPLICATIONS

3.1 Strategy Analysis

The concept of strategic planning of medium to long term road network expenditures requires
that a road organisation should consider the requirements of its entire road network asset. Thus,
strategy analysis deals with entire networks or sub-networks managed by one road organisation.
Examples of road networks include; the main (or trunk) road network, the rural (or feeder) road
network, urban (or municipal) road network, etc. Examples of sub-networks include; all
motorways (or expressways), all paved (or unpaved roads), different road classes, etc.

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In order to predict the medium to long term requirements of an entire road network or sub-
network, HDM-4 applies the concept of a road network matrix comprising categories of the
road network defined according to the key attributes that most influence pavement performance
and road user costs. Although it is possible to model individual road sections in the strategy
analysis application, most road administrations will often be responsible for several thousand
kilometres of roads, thereby making it cumbersome to individually model each road segment.
The road network matrix can be defined by users to represent the most important factors
affecting transport costs in the country. A typical road network matrix could be categorised
according to the following:
• Traffic volume or loading
• Pavement types
• Pavement condition
• Environment or climatic zones
• Functional classification (if required)

For example, a road network matrix could be modelled using; three traffic categories (high,
medium, low), two pavement types (asphalt concrete, surface treatments), and three pavement
condition levels (good, fair, poor). In this case, it is assumed that the environment throughout
the study area is similar and that the road administration is responsible for one road class (for
example, main roads). The resulting road network matrix for this would therefore comprise (3 x
2 x 3 =) 18 representative pavement sections. There is no limit to the number of representative
pavement sections that can be used in a strategy analysis. The trade-off is usually between a
simple representative road network matrix that would give rather coarse results compared
against a detailed road network matrix with several representative sections that could potentially
provide more accurate results.

Strategy analysis may be used to analyse a chosen network as a whole, to prepare medium to
long range planning estimates of expenditure needs for road development and conservation
under different budget scenarios. Estimates are produced of expenditure requirements for
medium to long term periods of usually 5-40 years. Typical applications of strategy analysis by
road administrations would include:
• Medium to long term forecasts of funding requirements for specified target road
maintenance standards (see Figure 3).
• Forecasts of long term road network performance under varying levels of funding (see
Figure 4).
• Optimal allocation of funds according to defined budget heads; for example routine
maintenance, periodic maintenance and development (capital) budgets (see Figure 5).
• Optimal allocations of funds to sub-networks; for example by functional road class (main,
feeder and urban roads, etc.) or by administrative region (see Figure 6).
• Policy studies such as impact of changes to the axle load limit, pavement maintenance
standards, energy balance analysis, provision of NMT facilities, sustainable road network
size, evaluation of pavement design standards, etc.

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Main Roads Annual

7.0 Budget

Average R oughness (IRI)

$10m
6.0

$15m
5.0

4.0 $20m
Target

3.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 3: Effect of funding levels on road network performance

Budget Allocations
7.0 Feeder
Average R oughness (IR I)

Roads
$30m/yr
6.0
Secondary
Roads
5.0 $35m/yr

4.0 Primary
Roads
$20m/yr
3.0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Figure 4: Effect of budget allocations on sub-network performance

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250

200

D e v e lo p m e n t
US $ m /year .

150
Im p ro v e m e n t
P e rio d ic
100
R o u tin e

50

0
2000 2001 2002 2003

Figure 5: Optimal budget allocations to sub-heads

200

150
US $ m /year .

P rim a r y
100 S e c o n d a ry
F eed er

50

0
2000 2001 2002 2003

Figure 6: Optimal budget allocations to sub-networks

3.2 Programme analysis

This deals primarily with the prioritisation of a defined long list of candidate road projects into a
one-year or multi-year work programme under defined budget constraints. It is essential to note
that here, we are dealing with a long list of candidate road projects selected as discrete segments
of a road network. The selection criteria will normally depend on the maintenance,
improvement or development standards that a road administration may have defined (for
example from the output produced by the strategy analysis application). Examples of selection
criteria that may be used to identify candidate projects include:
• Periodic maintenance thresholds (for example, reseal pavement surface at 20% damage).
• Improvement thresholds (for example, widen roads with volume/capacity ratio greater than
0.8).

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• Development standards (for example, upgrade gravel roads to sealed pavements when the
annual average daily traffic exceeds 200 vehicles per day).

The above examples do not imply firm recommendations to be used by road authorities. When
all candidate projects have been identified, the HDM-4 programme analysis application can then
be used to compare the life cycle costs predicted under the existing regimen of pavement
management (that is, the without project case) against the life cycle costs predicted for the
periodic maintenance, road improvement or development alternative (that is, with project case).
This provides the basis for estimating the economic benefits that would be derived by including
each candidate project within the budget timeframe.

It should be noted the main difference between strategy analysis and programme analysis is the
way in which road links and sections are physically identified. Programme analysis deals with
individual links and sections that are unique physical units identifiable from the road network
throughout the analysis. In strategy analysis, the road system essentially loses its individual link
and section characteristics by grouping all road segments with similar characteristics into the
road network matrix categories.

For both strategy and programme analysis, the problem can be posed as one of seeking that
combination of treatment alternatives across a number of sections in the network that optimises
an objective function under budget constraint. If, for example, the objective function is to
maximise the Net Present Value (NPV), the problem can be defined as:
Select that combination of treatment options for sections that maximises NPV for the
whole network subject to the sum of the treatment costs being less than the budget
available.

The HDM-4 programme analysis application may be used to prepare a multi-year rolling
programme, subject to resource constraints (see Figures 7 and 8). This provides an efficient and
robust index for prioritisation purposes.

Indices such as the NPV, economic rate of return (ERR), or predicted pavement condition
attributes (for example, road roughness) are not recommended as ranking criteria. The
incremental NPV/cost ratio satisfies the objective of maximising economic benefits for each
additional unit of expenditure (that is, maximise net benefits for each additional $1 of the
available budget invested).

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Priority Road Length Province Type of Scheduled Cost Cumulative

Rank Section (km) or District Road Work Year $m S$m
1 N1-2 20.5 2 Resealing 2000 5.4 5.4
2 N4-7 23.5 7 Overlay 40mm 2000 10.9 16.3
3 N2-5 12.5 5 Reconstruct 2000 8.6 24.9
4 R312-1 30 4 Widen 4 lane 2000 31.4 56.3
5 R458-3 36.2 3 Overlay 60mm 2000 16.3 72.6
: : : : : : : :
1 N4-16 32.1 6 Reconstruct 2001 22.8 22.8
2 R13-23 22.4 4 Overlay 40mm 2001 9.7 32.5
3 N521-5 45.2 2 Widen 4 lane 2001 41.3 73.8
: : : : : : : :
1 N1-6 30.2 4 Resealing 2002 8.2 8.2
2 N7-9 17.8 3 Overlay 60mm 2002 9.2 17.4
3 F2140-8 56.1 1 Reconstruct 2002 34.9 52.3
: : : : : : : :
Figure 7: Sample output from Programme analysis (Format 1)

2000 2001 2002 2003

Priority Road Length Province Road Cost Road Cost Road Cost Road Cost
Rank Section (km) or District Work $m Work $m Work $m Work $m
1 N1-2 20.5 2 RESEAL 5.4 R.M. 0.185 R.M. 0.185 R.M. 0.185
2 N4-7 23.5 7 OVL40MM 10.9 R.M. 0.212 R.M. 0.212 R.M. 0.212
3 N2-5 12.5 5 RECON 8.6 R.M. 0.113 R.M. 0.113 R.M. 0.113
4 R312-1 30 4 WIDEN-4 31.4 R.M. 0.180 R.M. 0.180 R.M. 0.180
5 R458-3 36.2 3 OVL60MM 16.3 R.M. 0.217 R.M. 0.217 R.M. 0.217
: : : : : : : : : : : :
16 N4-16 32.1 6 R.M. 0.289 RECON 22.8 R.M. 0.289 R.M. 0.289
17 R13-23 22.4 4 R.M. 0.134 OVL40MM 9.7 R.M. 0.134 R.M. 0.134
18 N521-5 45.2 2 R.M. 0.407 WIDEN-4 41.3 R.M. 0.407 R.M. 0.407
: : : : : : : : : : : :
28 N1-6 30.2 4 R.M. 0.272 R.M. 0.272 RESEAL 8.2 R.M. 0.272
29 N7-9 17.8 3 INLAY 0.240 R.M. 0.200 OVL60MM 9.2 R.M. 0.160
30 F2140-8 56.1 1 PATCH 0.202 R.M. 0.202 RECON 34.9 R.M. 0.168
Note: RM = Routine Maintenance
Figure 8: Sample output from Programme analysis (Format 2)

3.3 Project analysis

Project analysis is concerned with the following:
Evaluation of one or more road projects or investment options. The application
analyses a road link or section with user-selected treatments, with associated costs and
benefits, projected annually over the analysis period. Economic indicators are
determined for the different investment options.

Project analysis may be used to estimate the economic or engineering viability of road
investment projects by considering the following issues:
• The structural performance of road pavements
• Life-cycle predictions of road deterioration, road works effects and costs
• Road user costs and benefits
• Economic comparisons of project alternatives

Typical appraisal projects would include the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing roads,
widening or geometric improvement schemes, pavement upgrading and new construction. There
are no fundamental changes to the philosophy of the system in this area, but improved road
deterioration relationships have been extended to cover a wider range of pavements and the
performance of materials in temperate and cold climates. Road user cost relationships include
impacts on road safety.

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In terms of data requirements, the key difference between the strategy and programme analyses,
with that for project analysis, is in the detail at which data is defined. Use is made of the concept
of information quality levels (IQL) recommended by the World Bank (Paterson and Scullion
1990). Project level analysis data is specified in terms of measured defects (IQL-II), whereas the
specification for strategy and programme analyses can be more generic (IQL-III). For example;
for project level analysis, road roughness would be specified in terms of the IRI value (m/km);
but for strategy and programme analyses, roughness could be specified as good, fair or poor.
The relationship between IQL-II and IQL-III level data is user-defined in the HDM
Configuration depending on road class, pavement surface type and traffic class.

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4. IMPLEMENTING HDM-4 WITHIN A ROAD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The HDM-4 model is best seen as the decision support component within a complete road
management system. Figure 9 illustrates the interaction between the components of a road
management system. This comprises separate or integrated sub-systems for:

• Data collection
• Database management
• Decision support
• Management information

Data Decision Management

Database
Collection Support Information

Inventory DBMS HDM-4 Standard

Riding Quality (RIMS) & Custom
Surface Distress Reports
Pavement Strength
Traffic flow/loading
Bridges/Furniture
Figure 9: Components of a Road Management System

4.1 Data Collection

The key aspect about data collection for road management systems is to collect as little as
possible that will provide the necessary management information. For purposes of managing
pavement maintenance, it is necessary to ensure that the minimum data collected provides
information on the road inventory, riding quality, surface distress, pavement strength and traffic
characteristics. It is important to note that the measured data items need not correspond to the
data requirements of the HDM-4 models. For example, a practical data collection regime could
measure pavement condition at IQL III or IV and then utilise a system of default data
established either in the database management system, or within HDM-4 to transform these into
the IQL I/II data used by the HDM-4 models.

4.2 Database Management System

The HDM-4 system has been intentionally designed to link with any database management
system (DBMS). The relational database model, is the most commonly used within road
management systems. The method used by HDM-4 to link to other databases is through the use
of data import and export files that are created to a predefined format (Wightman et al 2000).
The data import into HDM-4 (as well as the export from HDM-4) is organised according to the
data objects (road networks, vehicle fleets, maintenance and improvement standards, HDM
Configuration). The physical attributes of the selected data objects must be exported to a data
exchange file format defined for HDM-4. This permits all data required by HDM-4 to be
imported directly from any database. Data transformation rules may need to be implemented for

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converting the data held in the external database to the format used by HDM-4. For example,
pothole data recorded in the external database in terms of the percentage area of the pavement
surface would need to be converted to the equivalent number of standard pothole units (10 litres
by volume) required in HDM-4. Similarly, other data required by HDM-4, such as pavement
deterioration calibration factors, should be inserted as pre-defined default values according to
the type of pavement, road class, and other defined factors. Other data required for the HDM-4
analyses can be directly stored within the HDM-4 internal database. These include data on
vehicle fleet characteristics, road maintenance and improvement standards, unit costs and
economic analysis parameters (for example, discount rate, analysis period, etc.).

4.3 Decision Support

The key role that HDM-4 would play within a road management system is therefore that of the
decision support tool. As such, it is designed to be able to:
• Support all of the functions of Planning, Programming, Preparation and Policy research as
described earlier.
• Predict future impacts of funding levels and management policies on the road network
performance and on road users.
• Provide reliable predictions of the interactions between the environment, traffic loading,
construction standards and maintenance standards on the performance of the road network.
• Assess the impacts of road management policies on the life cycle costs of road pavements.
• Provide a mechanism for investigating optimum investment alternatives in the roads sector.

4.4 Management Information

The purpose of a decision support tool is to provide the key management information that will
assist senior policy makers and managers within the roads sector to make good decisions. In
addition to these, there will be other management information that should be directly derived
from the database. Thus management information may be classed into 3 groups:

• Performance indicators – information that can be used by the public and by the road
organisation to measure how well the road network is managed. Such information include
predicted network performance trends, average travel speeds and average travel costs over a
number of years.
• Operational statistics – information of a quantitative nature that is used mainly within a road
organisation to assess budget needs, to measure annual achievements and to make
judgements on the effectiveness and efficiency within the organisation.
• Decision criteria – information utilised by middle ranking management and technical
professionals to make decision about annual work programmes and to select between
project alternatives. These include prioritised lists of road projects and/or the economic
indicators of project viability.

5. ADAPTING HDM-4 TO LOCAL CONDITIONS

It is important to note that prior to using HDM-4 for the first time in any country, the system
should be configured and calibrated for local use. Since HDM-4 is designed to be used in a wide
range of environments, Configuration of HDM-4 provides the facility to customise system
operation to reflect the norms that are customary in the environment under study. Default data
and calibration coefficients can be defined in a flexible manner to minimise the amount of data

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that must be changed for each application of HDM-4. Default values are supplied with HDM-4,
but these are all user-definable and facilities are provided to enable this data to be modified. For
example, default data can be specified to define traffic ranges such as high, medium and low
traffic that may vary according to the system of road classification that is used in the country.

Calibration of HDM-4 is intended to improve the accuracy of predicted pavement

performance and vehicle resource consumption. The pavement deterioration models
incorporated in HDM-4, were developed from results of large field experiments conducted in
several countries. Consequently, the default equations in HDM-4 if used without calibration,
would predict pavement performance that may not accurately match that observed on specific
road sections. A fundamental assumption made prior to using HDM is that the pavement
performance models will be calibrated to reflect the observed rates of pavement deterioration
on the roads where the models are applied. The extent of HDM calibration may be defined as
follows (Bennett and Paterson, 2000):
Level 1: Application: based on a desk study of available data and engineering experience of
pavement performance.
Level 2: Verification: based on measured pavement condition data collected from a large
number of road sections.
Level 3: Adaptation: Experimental data collection required to monitor the long-term
performance of pavements within the study area.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The HDM-4 system is seen as the international de facto standard decision support tool for
road management. In addition to the status of the sponsors or owners of the HDM-4 system,
the following reasons are offered for encouraging countries to adopt the HDM-4:
• HDM-4 is based on a well established economic analysis framework.
• The models used are derived from large scale field experiments conducted world-wide.
• It provides a common framework for analysis of road management options.
• It is supported by an international technical team that is behind its development and
maintenance.

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REFERENCES
1. Bennett, C.R and W.D.O. Paterson, (2000): Guide to Calibration and Adaptation of
HDM, Volume 5, The Highway Development and Management Series, International
Study of Highway Development and Management (ISOHDM), Paris: World Roads
Association (PIARC).
2. Harral, C.G., Watanatada T., Paterson W.D.O., Dhareshwar A..M., Bhandari A., and
Tsunokawa K., (1979). The highway design and maintenance standards model (HDM):
model structure, empirical foundations and applications. PTRC Summer Annual Meeting,
University of Warwick, 13-16 July 1979. London: PTRC Education and Research
Services.
3. Hoban, C.J., (1987). Evaluating traffic capacity and improvements to geometry. Technical
Paper Number 74. Washington DC: The World Bank.
4. Kerali, H.R., (2000): Overview of the HDM-4 System, Volume 1, The Highway
Development and Management Series, International Study of Highway Development and
Management (ISOHDM), Paris: World Roads Association (PIARC).
5. Kerali, H.R., Robinson R., and Paterson W.D.O., (1998). The Role of New HDM-4 in
Road Management. Fourth International Conference on Managing Pavements, Durban,
May 1998. South Africa: University of Pretoria.
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