New road surfaces: Logical bases for simple quality-related pay adjustments

The performance of road and airport wearing courses does not depend only on their bearing capacity. Many of the properties and characteristics of a pavement, such as its friction, drainability, and acoustic absorption, influence its real and perceived economic value. Thus, research is needed to develop reliable contracts and acceptance criteria for wearing courses, taking into account a variety of characteristics. The goal of the study described in this paper was to formalize and validate a model for determining pay adjustments on the basis of traditional and "premium" qualities. A new quality measure and a new and comprehensive algorithm, based on performance-related specifications and life-cycle cost analysis, were formulated and applied to a case study. The algorithm can also be applied to porous asphalt concretes or similar open-graded friction courses. Analyses and validation demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can efficiently solve typical problems that arise in contract administration for which decisions based on objective criteria are needed.