IN SEARCH OF A QUALITY HIGHWAY

In a national survey of drivers completed 4 years ago, the number one concern was pavement conditions. To respond to that call for quality, the Federal Highway Administration began working with other groups in the highway industry to raise the bar on highway quality. Several leading state transportation departments have developed programs that pay incentives to the contractor for building roadways to smoother standards. Highway contractors have been so successful in building smoother pavements that new smoothness measuring equipment and procedures were developed that are more precise and repeatable. Maintenance contractors have discovered that, done at the right time, minor treatments could extend the life of a pavement significantly and at a fraction of the cost and disruption of rebuilding. Surprisingly, these new generation highways are no more costly than their rougher predecessors, since contractors typically anticipate the incentives and reduce their initial construction bids. Studies have shown that roads that start out smoother stay that way longer, meaning a most cost-effective road in the long run.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11660022
• Corporate Authors:

  Scranton Gillette Communications

  380 E Northwest Highway, Suite 200
  Des Planes, IL  United States  60016-2282
• Authors:
  • Wykle, K
• Publication Date: 2000-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 18
• Serial:
  • Roads & Bridges
  • Volume: 38
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Scranton Gillette Communications
  • ISSN: 8750-9229
  • Serial URL: http://www.roadsbridges.com/rb/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cost effectiveness; Demand; Highways; Pavement maintenance; Pavement performance; Pavements; Quality control; Quality of work; Service life; Smoothness; Surveys
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00788865
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 8 2000 12:00AM