Quality Assurance (QA) Aspects of Performance Related Specifications (PRS)

Transportation agencies and industry are continually looking for ways to innovate to improve performance. The quality of highway construction translates directly to performance. The better the quality, the better the performance and greater the life of the infrastructure product. Performance related specifications (PRS) provide a mechanism for agencies to incentivize good quality and recover loss of service life by dis-incentivizing marginal quality in a rational and defensible manner, while also allowing flexibility and innovation. PRS provide a bridge between design, construction quality, and long-term performance and thus, a direct linkage between design expectations and construction quality. PRS concepts further highlight and emphasize the need for performance tests (PT), while PT demand continues to rise with the introduction of new materials and increased use of reclaimed materials. PT selection ideally should be based on the tests’ ability to integrate mixture design with pavement performance prediction, construction, and acceptance. PT that are more directly related to performance, even when used as a pass/fail screening test, can also provide added value and be used for performance modeling to compare what was designed to what was constructed. It is important to understand PT impacts across design, construction, and acceptance in the quest for longer pavement life. Research is needed to integrate these concepts within PRS efforts; performance prediction capabilities are fundamental to robust and defensible specifications that will ensure long-term pavement performance and reduced life cycle costs. The objective of this research was to develop guides to integrate the performance predictive capabilities of the PASSFlexTM software and its suite of tools (FlexPAVETM version 2.0, FlexMATTM, and FlexMIXTM) within a statistically sound QA system in a PRS framework.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4875

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $800000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project TFRS 01

• Sponsor Organizations:

  American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)

  444 North Capitol Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Cooperative Highway Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Project Managers:

  Barcena, Roberto

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Asphalt Technology

  277 Technology Pkwy
  Auburn, AL  United States  36830
• Principal Investigators:

  West, Randy

• Start Date: 20200415
• Expected Completion Date: 20231130
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fatigue (Mechanics); Laboratory tests; Mix design; Pavement performance; Performance based specifications; Quality assurance; Road construction; Rutting; Software
• Subject Areas: Construction; Design; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01719642
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project TFRS 01
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 22 2019 12:19PM