A recent article in Pavement Preservation Journal highlights how the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), working in collaboration with Rutgers CAIT, transformed the condition of the state highway system through a long-term asset management and pavement preservation strategy.
In the early 2000s, NJDOT faced significant pavement challenges, with nearly half of the state highway system in poor condition and limited investment in preservation. At the time, the agency primarily followed a “worst-first” approach focused on repairing the most deteriorated roads. Beginning in 2007, NJDOT shifted to an asset management strategy that emphasized preserving good and fair pavements alongside resurfacing, rehabilitation, and reconstruction efforts.
As part of that transition, NJDOT partnered with CAIT’s Rutgers Asphalt Pavement Lab through a Pavement Support Program focused on integrating research, innovation, and practical implementation into pavement management and preservation activities. The collaboration helped support evaluation and implementation of new pavement preservation treatments and technologies, including High Performance Thin Overlay (HPTO), while advancing a more data-driven and performance-based approach to pavement management.
Over time, this has driven consistent system-wide improvement, increasing good pavements from about 10% to nearly 50% and reducing poor pavements to under 20% as of 2024.
Read the full story in the Pavement Preservation Journal.
