WARRANTED HOT MIX ASPHALT PAVEMENTS: Development, Benefits and Risks

WARRANTED HOT MIXASPHALT PAVEMENTS:

Development,Benefits and Risks

What Warranties Are Not

• Guarantee of defect free pavement

• Throwing away the spec book

• A way to get rid of DOT employees

What Warranties Are

• Guarantee of good performance

• Incentive for quality construction

• Incentive for innovation

Incentive for Good Performance

• Current Specifications written to push the contractor towards “good performance”

• Warranty Specifications define what good performance is

“The Contract Specifications Were Met”

Definition of Success

BENEFIT OF WARRANTY

• Success = Performance

• Non-Confrontational Construction

• Innovation Rewarded

Assigning Risk

• “Who has control of an item?”• Contractor?

then contractor assumes risk of poor performance.

• Agency?then agency maintains risk of poor performance.

DOT Responsibilities

Structure

Quantities

Time Unit Cost

Condition Survey

Contractor Responsibilities

Materials

Mix Design

Process Control

Remediation Plans

Industry Benefits

• Liability

• “Raises the bar”

• Improves competition with pcc

• Builder sets own specs

• No approvals required

Agency Benefits

• People loss

• Improves probability of good performance

• Less confrontation

Friction

0

10

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40

50

60

Ave

rage

Fri

ctio

n N

umbe

r

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

EBWB

FN = 24

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60Macrotexture Depth, mm

Fri

cti

on

Nu

mb

er

Correlation of Friction Number to Macro-texture Depth

HURDLES

PEOPLE#1 is

HURDLES

• Agency– “What I want is a guarantee of

performance – “. . . And by the way, I want to keep the

specifications we have because they are a good set of specs. We have tuned them to cover all situations.

– “. . . besides, I need a hammer to control poor (out-of-state) contractors.”

HURDLES

• Contractor– “What I want is for the agency to get

out of my hair

– “. . . don’t shut me down

– “. . . and I want to get paid for every ton I put down.”

WHAT’S IN IT

• For the Agency– Performance

WHAT’S IN IT

• For the Contractor– Freedom in exchange for

performance

BENEFITS

• Success = Performance

• Risk Balanced

• Innovation Rewarded

• Non-Confrontational Construction

SHORT TERM

• 3 to 5 years• Focuses attention on

manufacturing and placement details

• Minimal opportunity for innovation

LONG TERM

• Shifts focus from construction

• Innovative materials

• Maintenance techniques

WARRANTIES

• Improve performance

• Require change

Worth it?

You Decide

SURE LOOKS GOOD TO ME!