Table of Contents | December 2000 | ||
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Asset Management and the Quality EquationAs more highway agencies embrace the asset management approach to highway
operations, which emphasizes the timely preservation, maintenance, and
upgrading of highway assets through cost-effective planning and resource
allocation decisions, an important byproduct is an increased emphasis
on quality. "Because of its focus on long range planning, financial analysis,
and integration of other engineering management processes such as pavement
or bridge management systems, asset management can have a significant
effect on improving the quality of a highway system," says Ken Jacoby
of the Office of Asset Management at the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA). Highway agencies are using pavement, bridge, and maintenance management
systems, for example, to collect and monitor information on current conditions,
forecast future conditions, and determine the best program of highway
or bridge investments to pursue over a certain time period. These actions
will help agencies to maintain a steady level of performance and quality.
Another tool that provides States with a more effective way to plan projects
and prioritize needs is the use of performance-related specifications
(PRS), which allow highway agencies to link construction quality to long-term
product performance. The PRS are similar to quality assurance specifications,
but the acceptance quality characteristics they measure have been determined
to be more directly related to product performance. For example, acceptance
quality characteristics for pavements might include concrete strength,
slab thickness, and initial smoothness. A highway agency can choose to
implement different levels of PRS, with the most basic level for pavements
including such elements as defining the general project information and
determining the distress indicator models for pavement performance, such
as transverse cracking and pavement smoothness over time. Implementing
a higher level might mean performing more nondestructive pavement sampling
and testing or more testing on site.
Using PRS and setting the acceptance quality characteristics can help
highway agencies determine whether a contractor should receive incentive
or disincentive payments for a project, depending on the as-constructed
quality of the work. The implementation of PRS, with well-defined quality
levels that are understandable to contractors, is expected to lead to
improved product performance and a reduction in life-cycle costs. While
PRS have generally only been used for pavements up till now, ultimately
they could also be applied to structures or other aspects of highway construction.
The many cost analysis and program decisions supported by aspects of
asset management have a tremendous impact on quality, but equally important
in the quality equation is a skilled workforce. To ensure that highway
personnel have adequate training, FHWA has formed a national team that
also includes representatives from the American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials, regional training organizations, and industry
to develop core training materials that can be used by States or regional
training groups to train and qualify personnel to work on highway construction
projects. For more information on using asset management tools to achieve continuous quality improvements in highway management, contact Ken Jacoby at FHWA, 202-366-6503 (fax: 202-366-9981; email: ken.jacoby@fhwa.dot.gov).
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