MANAGING QUALITY: TIME FOR A NATIONAL POLICY

One of the nation's most valuable assets is the highway system; U.S. economic well-being is strongly dependent upon the condition of the country's roads and bridges. Any means by which the system can be more effectively constructed and maintained warrants thoughtful consideration. Statistical quality assurance -- currently in use or under development in approximately three-fourths of the states -- has proven to be a very effective tool to encourage high-quality construction. However, although statistical specification writing must now be recognized as a thoroughly scientific activity, there is great disparity from state to state in the manner in which it is applied, and many current practices and published standards are far from optimal. Section 1 of this report stresses the need for sweeping reforms and suggests that the time is overdue for the establishment of a uniform and thorough national policy on transportation quality assurance. Section 2 describes a variety of obstacles -- technical, managerial, political, and cultural -- that must be overcome if such a transformation is to be made. Section 3 outlines an extensive series of fundamental principles that must be understood in order to derive the maximum benefit from a quality assurance program. Section 4 presents a strategic plan of action that, if conscientiously followed, will significantly increase the effectiveness of transportation quality assurance practices nationwide. Section 5 provides a summary of the previous four sections. Because it succinctly and eloquently captures many of the principles advocated in this report, the National Policy on the Quality of Highways is reproduced in Section 6. Finally, an extensive set of tables for the estimation of both percent defective and percent within limits is included in the Appendix.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Project title: Advancement of SQA and TQM in Design and Construction.
• Corporate Authors:

  New Jersey Department of Transportation

  1035 Parkway Avenue
  Trenton, NJ  United States  08625

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Weed, R M
• Publication Date: 1996-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 169 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bridge construction; Bridges; Construction; Implementation; Management; Quality assurance; Quality control; Road construction; Statistical quality control; Transportation policy
• Uncontrolled Terms: Quality
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Old TRIS Terms: National transportation policies
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; Policy; Research; I10: Economics and Administration; I50: Construction and Supervision of Construction;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00734652
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/NJ-96-004-7490, Final Report
• Contract Numbers: SPR Study 7490
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Mar 25 1997 12:00AM