Obtain a copy of a Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (published by the Transportation Research Board).

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

(a) Select one article and write a short summary of its contents.
(b) Describe the technical area of transportation covered by this article.
Title: Comparisons of Contractor and State Transportation Agency Quality
Assurance Test Results on Mat Density of Hot-Mix Asphalt Concrete: Findings of
Multistate Analysis
Authors: Rod E. Turochy and Frazier Parker
Source: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research
Board No. 2040, pp. 41-47 (2007)
Abstract: A typical component of highway construction quality assurance
programs is the process by which highway construction elements are sampled and
tested to ensure compliance with specifications and other project requirements.
The results of contractor-performed tests on in-place properties of hot-mix asphalt
are increasingly used in the acceptance decision in many states. Results of tests
performed by contractors and state departments of transportation (DOTs) in North
Carolina, Florida, and Kansas consistently indicate that differences between
contractors and state DOT test results for hot-mix asphalt concrete mat density are
statistically significant. Furthermore, these comparisons consistently indicate less
variable and more favorable contractor test results, relative to specification limits,
that give more favorable acceptance outcomes. Details of quality assurance
processes (sampling and testing frequencies, test methods, verification
procedures, and acceptance procedures) appear to have little if any effect on these
comparisons. These findings provide information for state DOTs to consider in
structuring their quality assurance programs, specifically the role of contractorperformed
tests in acceptance decisions.