Quantifying the Effectiveness of State Quality Assurance Programs

State highway administrations do not currently have an objective way to determine how well their quality assurance programs and their specifications are working. A procedure has been developed to assist State highway administrations and Federal Highway Administration Divisions in evaluating the effectiveness of construction quality assurance programs and specifications. The procedure (see "Procedure for Monitoring and Improving the Effectiveness of QA Specifications" in Transportation Research Record 1813) calls for data analysis of the State's construction quality database to determine whether what the State wants (in terms of construction quality) is actually being specified by the State and delivered by the contractor. The procedure can be used to quantify the effectiveness of a quality assurance program, while at the same time identifying problem areas so they can be corrected. It also has the potential for use as a benchmarking tool for State highway agencies. The procedure was used to analyze the Florida Department of Transportation's Construction Quality Reporting (CQR) database, and make recommendations to that State. This is an activity that calls for analyzing various States' databases, making recommendations for quality assurance program improvements, and promoting good database development and analysis.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Program Information: Surface Transportation Research, Pavement Design and Construction Team

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $125000
• Contract Numbers:

  DTFH61-05-D-00028

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center
  McLean, VA  United States  22101
• Project Managers:

  Faridazar, Fred

• Performing Organizations:

  Fugro-Bren Rauhut Engineering, Incorporated

  8613 Cross Park Drive
  Austin, TX  United States  78754-0000
• Principal Investigators:

  Moulthrop, Jim

• Start Date: 20090623
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20110729

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Data analysis; Quality assurance; Road construction; Specifications; State departments of transportation
• Identifier Terms: Florida Department of Transportation
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01573569
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: DTFH61-05-D-00028
• Files: RIP, USDOT
• Created Date: Aug 25 2015 3:44PM