The concept is to use incremental-recursive models to predict the future damage to the pavement, from present pavement condition and the effects caused by traffic loading and climate.

When the pavement condition has been evaluated during field testing in terms of elastic moduli, roughness, rutting etc, PERS® calculates the future performance, in yearly or seasonal time increments, using user-defined damage models.
Based on traffic loads and structural information the stress/strain levels are calculated for each layer, and the damage to all condition parameters for the season is derived from the models.

The resulting pavement condition is then used, recursively, as input for the next time increment.

By comparative graphics of predicted performance and historical condition data from field testing, it is possible to evaluate and calibrate the models to fit the measured performance of the pavement.

Simulation of rehabilitation activities can be performed, by applying a rehabilitation alternative in any year of the analysis period.

Many effects can be studied graphically, like all relevant costs to the agency and the users.
Cost models can be user-defined.

Further it is possible to let PERS® calculate rehabilitation plans for the section, using a database of rehabilitation alternatives, and predefined critical limits for the condition data.

Lastly it is possible to use all sectional rehabilitation plans in a budget based optimization, to find the overall most cost-effective solution for a road network