BACKGROUND: Quality assurance specifications that specify end product quality have often been used by transportation agencies as a means for assuring construction quality of highway pavements. However, agencies are increasingly incorporating performance-related specifications (PRS) in construction contracts to specify quality in terms of parameters related to desired performance over the long term. These PRS also provide a means for accounting for the value lost or gained by the variances of these parameters from the specified target values. Although such PRS have been used for the construction of pavements, their use for pavement preservation treatments has been limited.  There are no widely accepted guidelines for PRS for pavement preservation treatments that correlate fundamental engineering properties to construction quality characteristics. Research is needed to develop guidelines for PRS for pavement preservation treatments that provide a direct relationship between key quality characteristics and performance. These guidelines will help highway agencies specify an optimum level of quality that represents the best balance of costs and performance.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop guidelines for use in preparing performance-related specifications (PRS) for pavement preservation treatments. The research shall deal with preservation treatments for all pavement types. For the purpose of this research, preservation treatments are treatments applied to preserve an existing roadway, slow future deterioration, and maintain and improve its functional condition (without substantially increasing structural capacity).  

 

TASKS: Five tasks were completed:(1)  Collect and review information relevant to PRS of pavement preservation treatments. This information may be obtained from published and unpublished reports, contacts with public and private sector agencies, industry organizations, and other domestic and foreign sources.  (2) Describe a process for evaluating the suitability of specific preservation treatments for PRS development and identifying specific preservation treatments for consideration in the guidelines. (3) Prepare a detailed outline of the guidelines and a plan for developing them in Phase II. The guidelines shall consider performance parameters, engineering properties, testing requirements, and other relevant items and be structured in a format that will facilitate use.(4) Prepare an interim report that documents the research performed in Tasks 1 through 3. (5) Using the process proposed in Task 2 and approved in Task 4, identify specific preservation treatments for consideration in the guidelines. Submit a technical memorandum summarizing the work performed in this task.