Integrating Expert Systems in Existing Pavement Management Systems on Microcomputers

The expert system technology is having an increasing role in the continuing development of new pavement management applications for the state and local highway agencies. In recent years, several prototype expert systems have been developed in the pavement management area. Expert systems were often developed as stand-alone systems without considering the existing pavement management systems (PMSs). This paper discusses a concept of integrating an expert system in existing pavement management systems. The expert system components should be combined with the existing pavement management system to make it more intelligent and friendly. Merging an expert system technology into the pavement management system will lead to a complete system capable of managing a large base of complex pavement-related data in an integrated way. This paper presents an expert system that can be integrated into the existing pavement management systems on microcomputers. This expert system is developed to enhance the existing PMS, not to replace it.