Crack sealing is an important preventive treatment in the pavement preservation program. To achieve a cost-effective crack seal, it is crucial to select a proper crack sealing method. In Minnesota asphalt pavement cracks are sealed using both the clean-and-seal and rout-and-seal methods; however, there is no guideline for choosing the most suitable crack sealing method. This study deals with a literature review, an online survey, crack seal performance data collection, cost-effectiveness analysis of the crack sealing methods, life cycle cost analysis, and development of two decision trees to aid in selecting the most suitable crack sealing method. The first, which can be used in the pavement management system, needs information such as crack severity, pavement type (new versus overlay), pavement analysis period and design life, traffic level, and crack seal sequence (first, intermediate, or last). The second decision tree, which is a simplified version of the first and can be used by preventive maintenance crews, requires less information, such as crack severity, traffic level, and place in the crack sealing sequence.

裂缝密封是路面养护程序中的重要预防措施。为了实现经济高效的裂纹密封，选择合适的裂纹密封方法至关重要。在明尼苏达州，沥青路面的裂缝使用清洁和密封方法以及缝隙和密封方法进行密封。但是，没有选择最合适的裂缝密封方法的准则。这项研究涉及文献综述，在线调查，裂缝密封性能数据收集，裂缝密封方法的成本效益分析，生命周期成本分析以及两个决策树的开发，以帮助选择最合适的裂缝密封方法。第一个可以在路面管理系统中使用，它需要诸如裂缝严重程度，路面类型（新路面与覆盖路面），路面分析周期和设计寿命，交通水平，和裂纹密封顺序（第一，中间或最后）。第二个决策树是第一个决策树的简化版本，可以由预防性维护人员使用，它需要的信息较少，例如裂缝严重性，流量水平以及裂缝密封顺序中的位置。