Performance-related specifications are those that require tests or other control measures on materials and construction, the results of which correlate to a known degree with performance of the completed highway facility. The need to reduce sampling and testing costs has required a continuing examination of specifications by the states and the Federal Highway Administration. These examinations have convinced many of the need to identify effective performance predictors and their variability limits, to develop specifications based on these predictors, and to apply cost-effective sampling and testing plans to assure compliance.

A promising approach toward establishing performance predictors is to recognize the establishment of design factors as predictors of ultimate performance and then to use materials and construction testing as a means to ensure adequate compliance with or achievement of the design factors. As an example, for asphaltic concrete construction, stiffness (elastic modulus) and tensile strain would be possible design factors, while asphalt content and percent air voids would be possible materials and construction test data.

Although the relationships among materials and construction tests, design factors, and performance are of primary interest, the relative impact of other factors cannot be ignored. Factors such as quality of construction, environment, and reliability of testing techniques are among many that can have significant effects.

Establishing or verifying the causal relationships and the sensitivity of these relationships among performance, design factors, and test data requires first the development of an overall conceptual model or framework. Once the concept has been formulated, the variables and data needs must be identified. With the data, previously established or conceptual relationships can be verified and further analyzed for the predictive sensitivity of each variable and its reliability. The ultimate purpose will be to develop materials and construction specifications that relate to the actual performance of the facility. This process will be an iterative one, but careful planning will produce meaningful results promptly and with minimum waste.

This study identified the relationships between materials and construction test data and the performance of hot-mix asphaltic concrete. Causal relationships among performance, design factors, and test data needed verification with the ultimate aim of formulating specifications that directly (or through identifiable indirect means) relate, within acceptable tolerances, to the performance of hot-mix asphaltic concrete in a pavement cross-section.

Research has been completed, and the final report has been published as NCHRP Report 332, "Framework for Developing Performance-Related Specifications for Hot-Mix Asphaltic Concrete."