Cost and Benefit Evaluation of Graffiti Countermeasures on the Nevada Highways

Nevada is one of the major states that are currently suffering from graffiti problem. It was estimated that graffiti costs Southern Nevada around $30 million per year. The major highway structures that were suffering from graffiti were bridges, sound walls, retaining walls and traffic signs. Removing graffiti from these infrastructures was a big challenge to the maintenance division of Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). Thus, the department was looking for cost effective proactive countermeasures to prevent graffiti on highway infrastructure. This study first identified a spectrum of proactive countermeasures, and then evaluated them by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Pedestrian fencing and chain link fence were found to be cost effective countermeasures for preventing graffiti on bridges and sound walls. However, for relative long sound walls, the chain link becomes less cost effective. Rat guard was found to be cost effective for road signs;however, it was more useful for traffic signs that are located in the area where the taggers cannot find the way to bypass the rat guard. Coating and landscaping were found to be cost effective for small structures. The security camera countermeasure was not cost effective at the locations where the reduction in graffiti was small. The software for spectrometers was relatively high cost and might hinder the cost effectiveness of this countermeasure. To reduce the cost of the software, developing the software internally could be adopted. And finally, the electronic database was recommended since it was not difficult to develop and maintain.

The Development of Regression Models to Estimate Routine Maintenance Costs for State Highway Infrastructure

Literature review indicates that most studies on pavement management have been on reconstruction and rehabilitation, but not on maintenance;this includes routine, corrective and preventive maintenance. This study developed linear regression models to estimate the total maintenance cost and component costs for labor, materials, equipment, and stockpile. The data used in the model development were extracted from the pavement and maintenance management systems of the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). The life cycle maintenance strategies adopted by NDOT for five maintenance prioritization categories were used as the basis for developing the regression models of this study. These regression models are specified for each stage of life-cycle maintenance strategies. The models indicate that age, traffic flow, elevation, type of maintenance, maintenance schedule, life cycle stage, and the districts where maintenances are performed all are important factors that influence the magnitude of the costs. Because these models have embedded the road conditions into the life-cycle stage and type of maintenance performed, they can be easily integrated into existing pavement management systems for implementation.