Rehabilitation of Flexible and Rigid Pavements: A Review

Road rehabilitation is crucial for maintaining infrastructure, supporting mobility, and facilitating economic activity. This study explores the rehabilitation of flexible and rigid pavement using asphalt and concrete overlays. An initial set of 190 articles was retrieved from Scopus and analyzed using VOSviewer to generate bibliometric networks, which exhibited fragmented collaboration and distinct thematic clusters. After two-stage screening, 34 articles were selected for in-depth analysis based on three key parameters: Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost (EUAC), target service life, and International Roughness Index (IRI). The qualitative analysis revealed a skewed distribution of studies regarding rigid pavement overlays and unpredictable IRI results as a performance metric. Welch's t-test was used to statistically compare the parameters. The results showed no significant difference between overlay types except for EUAC, which statistically favored flexible pavement (P < 0.01). This study is the first to integrate bibliometric and statistical analyses to evaluate overlay performance based on these parameters. It provides both a structural overview of the research field and a performance-based comparison of overlay strategies. By combining bibliometric and statistical analysis, this approach offers both a structural overview of the literature and a performance-based comparison, offering valuable insights and guiding future research priorities.