QUALITY-RELATED PAY ADJUSTMENT FACTORS FOR PAVEMENTS

Abstract

This digest summarizes the findings of the research conducted under NCHRP Project 10-79 to develop guidance pertaining to the quality-related pay adjustment factors used for flexible and rigid pavement construction. Highway agencies generally specify certain quality measures for the acceptance of pavement construction. However, because many factors influence construction operations, characteristics of the constructed pavement (e.g., material properties and smoothness) will generally vary somewhat from those specified. Such variance will affect pavement quality and performance and, therefore, will affect the highway agency and road users. To account for the value lost or gained by the variance from the specified values, many highway agencies incorporate quality-related pay adjustments in the form of incentives and disincentives in the construction contracts of flexible and rigid pavements. Many of the approaches used by highway agencies for dealing with construction variance and assigning pay adjustment factors have been developed empirically and with limited consideration of the actual effect on performance. In addition, these approaches use procedures for determining the amount and method of pay adjustment that do not consider some relevant issues, such as highway functional classification, constructability, impacts on the highway users, and contractor/agency risk sharing. There has been a need to enhance these approaches and develop rational guidance on the issues associated with determining quality-related pay adjustment factors for flexible and rigid pavements. This guidance will help highway agencies incorporate pay adjustment factors that realistically reflect the expected gain or loss in pavement performance into construction contracts.