Causes of Cracks and Deterioration of Pavement on Highways in Jordan from Contractors’ Perspective

Pavement deterioration is a serious problem for road and traffic highway sector in Jordan. The allocated cost for construction of new roads, replacement and rehabilitation, and maintenance was 292.1 M JD in the implementation program (2007-2009) and 192. 2 M JD in (2011-2013). The current research aims to describe the most affecting causes for road deterioration in Jordan by a questionnaire designed and directed to contractors in road construction and maintenance. A list of causes was prepared through conducting literature review, consulting and interviewing a group of 15 managers from contractors and experts in the field, they advised to study 51 of expected causes for road deterioration. Then a questionnaire was prepared and directed to 150 of contractors in road construction and maintenance. The mission was involving to give a scale (rank) from 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (do not know), 4 (agree), and 5 (strongly agree) to the expected causes. 38 (25.33%) responses were received and analyzed. The criterion (defects caused during construction due to poor construction quality) takes the highest rank of 4.15, while the lowest factor is (Inadequate resistance to polishing of surface aggregate) of 2.73. Also, the causes for deterioration were reorganized into 11 consistent groups of relevant causes. The first group (Effect of Cracks and Structural Failure) ranks 3.96 and the last group (Effect of Pavement Width) ranks 2.93 in group comparison. The research is helpful in highlighting the causes for road deterioration in Jordan, and in avoiding of these causes or mitigating their effect during design, construction, and maintenance through operation. Keywords: Deterioration, defects, road construction, road maintenance, highwa