Pavement management system steps in South Africa, manual by manual

A pavement management system (PMS) stores pavement data and network-level condition assessments, and uses them to programme and prioritise preventative maintenance and rehabilitation (SANRAL, 2014f). This guide follows South African pavement management through nine steps, from road register to monitoring. No single manual in the TMH (Technical Methods for Highways) or TRH (Technical Recommendations for Highways) series, or in the South African Pavement Engineering Manual (SAPEM), sets out all nine.

Key facts

• RoadSense traces South African pavement management in nine steps, from road register to monitoring, and no single TMH, TRH or SAPEM manual sets out all nine.
• The South African road manual TMH 22 (Draft, March 2013) says operational planning, including design, is project-level work it does not cover, so a network flag is not a design.
• TRH 12 (Draft, 1997), the South African rehabilitation manual, divides a flagged road into uniform pavement sections, which group stretches that behave alike and differ from TMH 9 rating segments.
• TMH 18, the South African road-data manual, exists as Draft Version 4 (October 2014) and Committee Draft 5.0 (February 2016); both discard values outside a road's start and end kilometre.
• The South African Pavement Engineering Manual (SAPEM) Chapter 13 (Second Edition, October 2014) describes as-built records as a post-construction reference for performance monitoring or defects evaluation.
• The COTO (Committee of Transport Officials) Standard Specifications (Draft Standard, October 2020) say they will replace the COLTO 1998 edition, so check which specification edition a contract names.

What is a pavement management system, and which manuals does it use?

That definition comes from SAPEM Chapter 14 (Second Edition, October 2014) (SANRAL, 2014f). COTO is the Committee of Transport Officials.

TRH 22 (Draft, 1994) describes pavement management systems, and TMH 22 (Draft, March 2013) describes the wider road asset management system (RAMS) (CSRA, 1994) (COTO, 2013). TMH 22 does not cite TRH 22 or claim to replace it, so TRH 22 is overtaken in practice, not formally withdrawn (COTO, 2013).

The loop uses these manuals, as printed on their covers (COTO, 2013) (COTO, 2016b) (COTO, 2016d) (COTO, 2014) (COTO, 2016i) (Department of Transport, 1997) (CSRA, 1996) (SANRAL, 2014a) (COTO, 2020a):

Manual	Subject	Edition and status
TMH 22	Road asset management	Draft, March 2013
TMH 9	Visual assessment of road pavements	Committee Draft Final, May 2016
TMH 13	Automated road condition assessments	Committee Draft Final, May 2016
TMH 18	Road asset data electronic exchange formats	Draft Version 4, October 2014; Committee Draft 5.0, February 2016
TRH 12	Flexible pavement rehabilitation investigation and design	Draft, 1997
TRH 4	Structural design of flexible pavements	Draft, 1996
SAPEM Chapters 1, 6 and 10 to 14	South African Pavement Engineering Manual	Second Edition, October 2014; a guideline
COTO Standard Specifications	Road and bridge works	Draft Standard, October 2020

What are the nine pavement management steps, in order?

1. Register the road. Define road, link, kilometre limits, direction and class (TMH 22 Part B).
2. Survey the condition. Collect visual ratings (TMH 9) and automated measurements (TMH 13) at the TMH 22 Part D frequency.
3. Exchange the data. Package TMH 18 files, name the version, and check the file set against the register.
4. Index and screen. Convert ratings and measurements into a named index under TMH 22 Parts E to G and flag candidates.
5. Investigate the candidates. Divide each flagged road into uniform sections and test it (TRH 12, SAPEM Chapter 6).
6. Design the treatment. Use TRH 4, TRH 12 and SAPEM Chapter 10, as the client's terms direct.
7. Tender the works. Carry the design into SAPEM Chapter 11 documents and name the specification edition.
8. Build and accept. Build with SAPEM Chapters 12 and 13 as guidance, accept against the contract's specification, keep as-built records.
9. Monitor and feed back. Re-survey under TMH 9 and TMH 13 (SAPEM Chapter 14) and update the register.

Narrated film · 1:33

Nine steps of pavement management

A nine-stage rail runs from register to monitoring with a manual badge on each stage, hand-off markers where the manual changes, and a line curving back to the register.

Read the film transcript

Which South African road manual comes next in pavement management, from register to monitoring? A pavement management system stores pavement data and network condition assessments, then prioritises preventative maintenance and rehabilitation. TRH 22 describes pavement management systems, while TMH 22, on road asset management, never says it replaces TRH 22. TMH 22 registers the road, TMH 9 and TMH 13 survey it, and a wrong register class reaches every later survey. TMH 18 carries the files, so name its version, and TMH 22 describes the index, so name that variant too. Flagged roads go to TRH 12 and SAPEM Chapter 6, where a rating segment is not a uniform section. Design follows TRH 4, TRH 12 or SAPEM Chapter 10, as the client's terms direct. SAPEM Chapter 11 describes the tender, so ask which specification edition the contract names. SAPEM Chapters 12 and 13 guide building, and the contract's specification decides acceptance. Chapter 14 covers monitoring, which repeats the survey and updates the register, closing the loop. A synthetic road of twelve thousand metres expects 120 records of 100 metres, but the file set holds 119. That gap surfaces at the exchange, before any index, and the specification decides whether it is acceptable. So at every hand-off, pass on the evidence and name the edition. Next, open TMH 22 for steps one to four, then SAPEM for steps five to nine.

How does a road enter a pavement management system and get its data?

TMH 22 registers the road, TMH 9 and TMH 13 survey it, and TMH 18 files carry the data.

Step 1: Register

TMH 22 Part B sets out the network definition and location referencing that every later record is keyed to, with the fixed asset register, and takes road classes 1 to 5 from TRH 26 (Version 1.0, August 2012) (COTO, 2013) (COTO, 2012). Evidence: road identifier, start and end kilometre, surveyed length, direction and class. Watch the direction and class: the digital line must run in the direction of the kilometre distances, and the class sets survey frequency in Tables D-4 and D-5, so a wrong class reaches every later survey (COTO, 2013).

Step 2: Survey

TMH 22 Part D says which condition data to collect and how often, leaving methods to other manuals (COTO, 2013). TMH 9 (Committee Draft Final, May 2016) records distress by type, degree and extent on a segment (COTO, 2016b). TMH 13 Part A (Committee Draft Final, May 2016) guides automated surveys of roughness, rutting, skid resistance, texture, deflection and imaging (COTO, 2016d). Evidence: original ratings and measurements, with lane, wheelpath and date. Watch the scale: the visual segment, instrument record and deflection test point are three scales on one road (COTO, 2013). See from a profiler run to a register value.

Step 3: Exchange

TMH 22 section D.5.2 says transfers should use the COTO standard for road network data, the running head of TMH 18 Draft Version 4 (October 2014) (COTO, 2013) (COTO, 2014). TMH 18 Committee Draft 5.0 (February 2016) changes file extensions, geometry format and the meaning of .fwd, so name the version in every delivery (COTO, 2016i). Evidence: the file set, its version and its road definition. Watch the kilometre window: values outside a road's start and end kilometre are discarded in both versions (COTO, 2014) (COTO, 2016i). See survey acceptance evidence.

How do measurements become a shortlist and an investigation?

Step 4 indexes the ratings and flags candidates, and step 5 investigates each flagged road.

Step 4: Index and screen

TMH 22 Part E describes combining ratings and measurements into indices by arithmetic or geometric aggregation or by deduct points, and Part G ranks candidate projects and uses panel inspections to confirm a road's state and urgency (COTO, 2013). Evidence: the ratings, index variant and flagged list. Watch the variant: one set of ratings can yield several indices, so name the visual condition index (VCI) variant for a road pavement, or the deduct-point index, every time. See from visual rating to a rehabilitation shortlist.

Step 5: Investigate

TRH 12 (Draft, 1997) describes the project-level investigation that follows a network flag, dividing the road into uniform pavement sections in section 2.2.4 (Department of Transport, 1997). SAPEM Chapter 6 (Second Edition, October 2014) section 7 follows TRH 12 and describes test pits, cores and dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) probes (SANRAL, 2014k). Evidence: section boundaries and test records. Watch for segments mistaken for sections: TMH 9 segments are fixed rating lengths not meant to find uniform sections (COTO, 2016b), whereas a uniform section has similar condition and structure (SANRAL, 2014k). See network screening and project investigation.

How does an investigated road become a built and monitored road?

Four steps follow: design, tender, build and accept, then monitor, with SAPEM Chapters 10 to 14 as the main guide.

Step 6: Design

For new work, TRH 4 provides road categories, design traffic and a pavement design catalogue, and TRH 12 sets out the rehabilitation design approach (CSRA, 1996) (Department of Transport, 1997). SAPEM Chapter 10 (Second Edition, October 2014) section 5 describes the investigation and design process for both (SANRAL, 2014b). Evidence: the design report with traffic, category and assumptions. Watch for a single-method assumption: TRH 4 and SAPEM Chapter 10 overlap, the client's terms decide which governs, and SAPEM Table 23 recommends more than one design method (SANRAL, 2014b). See from investigation to a SAPEM pavement design.

Step 7: Tender

SAPEM Chapter 11 (Second Edition, October 2014) describes forms of procurement, contract documentation and the tender process (SANRAL, 2014c), and SAPEM Chapter 6 adds that investigation results feed the tender specification and pricing quantities (SANRAL, 2014k). Evidence: tender documents naming the specification. Watch the edition: the COTO Standard Specifications (Draft Standard, October 2020) say they will replace the 1998 edition of COLTO, the Committee of Land Transport Officials, so a contract may name COLTO 1998, the August 2019 Committee Draft Final chapters still listed on the Department of Transport page, or the October 2020 Draft Standard (COTO, 2020a) (Department of Transport, n.d.). Ask which one.

Step 8: Build and accept

SAPEM Chapter 12 (Second Edition, October 2014) covers construction method and Chapter 13 (Quality Management) checking that it was done correctly (SANRAL, 2014e). COTO Standard Specifications Chapter 20, clause A20.1.5.5, refers to TMH 13 for macro-texture, roughness, rutting and deflection testing (COTO, 2020a). Evidence: the as-built records, a post-construction reference under SAPEM Chapter 13 section 11.1 that may include a table relating construction kilometres to true kilometres (SANRAL, 2014e). Watch the baseline: acceptance values are a natural year-zero record, but TMH 22 section B.6.1 asks the register for construction years, not test results (COTO, 2013).

Step 9: Monitor

SAPEM Chapter 14 describes regular monitoring by visual assessment and by network surveillance with devices such as the laser profilometer and falling weight deflectometer (SANRAL, 2014f). The re-survey repeats steps 2 and 3, and TMH 22 Part I closes the loop by improving the system and its plans (COTO, 2013). Evidence: a repeat survey on the same road definition. Watch the history: a yearly TMH 18 delivery carries only the latest measurement date, and section 2.2.2 maps each submission to the road version valid on that date, so keep earlier surveys and resubmit the network definition when the alignment moves (COTO, 2014) (COTO, 2016i).

How does a hand-off check work on one synthetic road?

Synthetic example, with every value invented. Synthetic Road S1, link 2, runs from register kilometre 14.000 to 26.000, a length of 12.000 km (12,000 m). The example specification asks for 100 m instrument records and 2.0 km visual segments; TMH 22 Table D-7 and TMH 9 Part A section A.3 hold the real lengths (COTO, 2013) (COTO, 2016b).

• Steps 1 and 2: 12,000 m / 100 m gives 120 expected instrument records, and 12.0 km / 2.0 km gives 6 visual segments.
• Step 3: the file set holds 119 instrument records, covering 119 × 100 m = 11,900 m. The shortfall is 12,000 m − 11,900 m = 100 m, or 100 / 12,000 = 0.83 % of the link.
• Step 5: uniform sections of 4.0 km, 5.5 km and 2.5 km. Check value: 4.0 + 5.5 + 2.5 = 12.0 km. The boundary at kilometre 23.5 falls inside the visual segment from 22.0 to 24.0 km.

The gap surfaces at the exchange hand-off, before any index is calculated. The boundary inside a segment shows why ratings and sections stay separate records. The specification decides whether the gap is acceptable.

What do the manuals not decide, and what do readers misread?

• The edition that applies. The client's terms of reference and the contract decide. TMH 9 Part A prints a version ladder in which committee drafts have no legal standing but a Draft Standard has full legal standing (COTO, 2016b), and SAPEM states that it is not a specification (SANRAL, 2014a).
• A treatment from a network flag. TMH 22 says operational planning, which includes design, is project-level work outside its scope (COTO, 2013).
• "TMH 22 and TRH 22 are one manual." They are separate documents; SAPEM Chapter 14 section 2 prints the parts of TMH 22 under the label TRH 22 (SANRAL, 2014f).
• "TMH 12 and TRH 12 are one manual." TRH 12 is the rehabilitation manual. TMH 12 was an earlier draft visual assessment manual that TMH 9 Part E effectively withdraws (COTO, 2016k).
• Deflection units. TMH 22 Table D-8 reports micrometres, while the deflection files of both TMH 18 versions label columns nanometres, so state the unit in every header (COTO, 2013) (COTO, 2014) (COTO, 2016i).

Which manual governs each stage

Stages of the journey, the manual that governs each one, and the evidence each stage should leave behind.

Stage	Governing manual	Evidence this stage produces
1. Register	TMH 22	Road identifier, official start and end kilometre, surveyed length, direction and TRH 26 class, held in the Part B inventory.
2. Survey	TMH 9	Original visual ratings and TMH 13 instrument records, with the edition used, lane, wheelpath and survey date.
3. Exchange	TMH 18	The TMH 18 file set with its version named, record counts and units stated in the headers.
4. Index and screening	TMH 22	The ratings, the named index variant and the list of flagged candidate projects.
5. Investigation	TRH 12	Uniform section boundaries, test records and the investigation report.
6. Design	TRH 4	The design report with its traffic, category, assumptions and design methods, including SAPEM Chapter 10.
7. Tender	SAPEM	Tender documents that name the specification edition the contract uses.
8. Build and accept	COTO Specs	As-built records, the kilometre conversion table, acceptance results and the list of non-conforming work.
9. Monitor	SAPEM	A repeat survey on the same road definition, fed back to the register and the plan.

The journey, step by step

1. Register the road

   Define the road, link, kilometre limits, direction and class in the TMH 22 Part B inventory, with the class taken from TRH 26.

2. Survey the condition

   Collect visual ratings under TMH 9 and automated measurements under TMH 13, at the frequency that TMH 22 Part D sets for the road class.

3. Exchange the data

   Package the data in TMH 18 files, name the TMH 18 version, and check the file set against the register before it is sent.

4. Index and screen

   Convert ratings and measurements into a named index under TMH 22 Parts E to G, and flag candidate projects.

5. Investigate the candidates

   Divide each flagged road into uniform sections and test the pavement, following TRH 12 and SAPEM Chapter 6.

6. Design the treatment

   Design under TRH 4, TRH 12 and SAPEM Chapter 10, as the client's terms direct, and record the traffic, category and assumptions.

7. Tender the works

   Carry the design into SAPEM Chapter 11 documents and name the specification edition that the contract uses.

8. Build and accept

   Build with SAPEM Chapters 12 and 13 as guidance, accept against the specification the contract names and keep the as-built records.

9. Monitor and feed back

   Re-survey under TMH 9 and TMH 13, follow SAPEM Chapter 14, and update the register and the plan.

Frequently asked

What are the steps of a pavement management system in South Africa?

RoadSense traces South African pavement management through nine steps: register, survey, exchange, index and screening, investigation, design, tender, build and accept, and monitor. No single manual sets out all nine. Different manuals in the TMH (Technical Methods for Highways) and TRH (Technical Recommendations for Highways) series, and chapters of the South African Pavement Engineering Manual (SAPEM), describe the steps.

Is TRH 22 the same as TMH 22?

No. TRH 22 (Draft, 1994), from the Technical Recommendations for Highways series of South African road manuals, describes pavement management systems. TMH 22 (Draft, March 2013), from the Technical Methods for Highways series, describes road asset management. TMH 22 does not cite TRH 22 or say that it replaces TRH 22, and the South African Pavement Engineering Manual (SAPEM) Chapter 14 prints the parts of TMH 22 under the label TRH 22.

How does a road asset management system (RAMS) work in South Africa?

TMH 22 (Draft, March 2013), the South African road asset management manual, describes the system in parts: Part B holds inventory data, Part D usage and condition data, Part E indices, Part G needs determination and Part I the feedback loop. It treats design as project-level work that it does not cover.

Which manual comes after a network survey flags a road?

TMH 22 (Draft, March 2013), the South African road asset management manual, ranks candidate projects in Part G and uses panel inspections, but says design is project-level work that it does not cover. The project-level investigation then follows TRH 12 (Draft, 1997), the flexible pavement rehabilitation manual, and SAPEM (South African Pavement Engineering Manual) Chapter 6 (Second Edition, October 2014), which divide the road into uniform sections and test the pavement.

Which specification edition does a South African road contract use?

The contract names it, so ask. The COTO Standard Specifications (Draft Standard, October 2020), issued under the Committee of Transport Officials, say they will replace the COLTO (Committee of Land Transport Officials) 1998 edition and that existing contracts based on COLTO 1998 remain unaffected. The Department of Transport page also lists most chapters as the August 2019 Committee Draft Final, so any of the three editions may appear in a contract.

What legal status do TMH 9, TMH 13 and TMH 22 have?

TMH 9 and TMH 13 (also written TMH9 and TMH13), the South African manuals for visual and automated road condition assessment, are Committee Draft Final editions of May 2016, and TMH 22, the road asset management manual, is a draft of March 2013. TMH 9 Part A states that committee drafts have no legal standing, so the client's terms of reference decide which edition applies.

Where this connects

Open TMH 22 first, because its Parts B and D to G sit behind steps 1 to 4, and which manual serves which job places it among the others. Then open SAPEM, whose Chapters 6 to 14 carry steps 5 to 9.

References

1. SANRAL (2014f). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 14: Post-Construction. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
2. CSRA (1994). Draft TRH22: Pavement Management Systems. Pretoria: Department of Transport, 1994. Original source.Technical Addendum A.3, equations A.3.1–A.3.3 and Table A.3.1, printed pp. 125–126; Section 6.2.2, printed pp. 55–56, for alternative-weight normalisation
3. COTO (2013). Draft TMH 22: Road Asset Management Manual. Draft, March 2013. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
4. COTO (2016b). TMH9: Manual for Visual Assessment of Road Pavements. Part A: General. Committee Draft Final, May 2016. Original source.Section A.2: degree and extent
5. COTO (2016d). TMH 13: Automated Road Condition Assessments. Part A: General. Committee Draft Final, May 2016. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
6. COTO (2014). TMH 18: Road Asset Data Electronic Exchange Formats. Draft Version 4, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
7. COTO (2016i). TMH 18: Road Asset Data Electronic Exchange Formats. Committee Draft 5.0, February 2016. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
8. Department of Transport (1997). TRH12: Flexible Pavement Rehabilitation Investigation and Design. Draft TRH12, Pretoria: Department of Transport for COLTO. Original source.Chapter 1: rehabilitation design process; investigation, evaluation, analysis and economic appraisal
9. CSRA (1996). TRH4: Structural Design of Flexible Pavements for Interurban and Rural Roads. 1996 edition. Original source.Design framework; confirm project applicability
10. SANRAL (2014a). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 1: Introduction. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
11. COTO (2020a). Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Works for South African Road Authorities. Draft Standard, October 2020. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
12. COTO (2012). TRH 26: South African Road Classification and Access Management Manual (RCAM). Version 1.0, August 2012. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
13. SANRAL (2014k). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 6: Road Prism and Pavement Investigations. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
14. SANRAL (2014b). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 10: Pavement Design. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
15. SANRAL (2014c). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 11: Documentation and Tendering. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
16. Department of Transport (n.d.). Roads: Engineering Standard Guidelines and Manuals. Official catalogue; accessed 5 September 2026. Original source.TMH22 V8b Draft; TRH12; TRH15; TRH24 catalogue entries
17. SANRAL (2014e). South African Pavement Engineering Manual, Chapter 13: Quality Management. Second Edition, October 2014. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide
18. COTO (2016k). TMH 9: Manual for Visual Assessment of Road Pavements. Part E: Unpaved Roads. Committee Draft Final, May 2016. Original source.Sections, tables and clauses are cited inline in each guide

Use the manual edition and project requirements that apply to your work. Worked examples use synthetic values and are not site-specific design advice.