Quality Assurance For Airport Pavement Construction Planning For Success

QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR AIRPORT PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION:
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
John E. Naughton, III, P.E.1

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by RMIT UNIVERSITY LIBRARY on 08/17/15. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
David G. Peshkin, P.E.2

James E. Bruinsma, P.E.3
Abstract
In the past, on a typical airport construction project, the contractor was

responsible for construction and the owner agency was responsible for measuring
the quality of that construction. Today, on many airport construction projects the
contractor is responsible for his own quality control (QC) and the owner tracks
quality through a quality assurance (QA) program. This redistribution of
responsibilities and resources has led to an uncertainty regarding the different
roles and requirements for both contractors and owners on these projects. On a
quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) project, the contractor is now
responsible for daily testing to ensure that the delivered product meets the project
specifications and the construction process is in control while the owner is
responsible for acceptance testing only. As part of the QA plan, the owner is also
required to provide random testing at a specified frequency to ensure that the
contractor’s testing procedures are being conducted within accepted standards.
On some projects, the contractor may even be responsible for the acceptance
testing.
While QC/QA projects are fairly widespread, a thorough understanding of the

implications of such projects, especially regarding roles and responsibilities, is
not. This paper examines experiences from several recent projects and presents
observations and recommendations that can be used by airport owners, engineers,
and contractors, to improve both the QC/QA process and the quality of airfield
pavement construction.
1
Program Director, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc., 3010 Woodcreek Drive,
Suite J, Downers Grove Illinois 60515; phone 630-434-9210;
jnaughton@pavementsolutions.com
2
Principal, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc., Downers Grove, Illinois
3
Pavement Engineer, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc., Downers Grove,
Illinois
Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Designing, Constructing, Maintaining, and Financing Today's Airport Projects
Why is this topic important?
While quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) projects are fairly widespread, a

thorough understanding of the implications of such projects, especially regarding
roles and responsibilities, is not. In the past, on a typical airport construction
project, the contractor was responsible for construction and the owner agency was
responsible for measuring the quality of that construction. Today, on many
airport construction projects the contractor is responsible for his own quality
control (QC) and the owner tracks quality through a quality assurance (QA)
program. This redistribution of responsibilities and resources has led to an
uncertainty regarding the different roles and requirement for both contractors and
owners on these projects. On a QC/QA project, the contractor is now responsible
for daily testing to ensure that the materials meet the project specifications and the
construction process is in control while the owner is responsible for acceptance
testing only. As part of the QA plan, the owner is also required to provide
random testing at a specified frequency to ensure that the contractor’s testing
procedures are being conducted within accepted standards. On some projects, the
contractor may even be responsible for the acceptance testing.
Confusion about the individual and combined roles and responsibilities makes it
increasingly difficult to ensure that any given paving project will be a high quality
job. However, today’s specifications are specifically intended to achieve just that
outcome. Through an overview of the intent of today’s project specifications and
structure, and experience gained in working on airport paving projects under a
variety of specifications, some of the existing problems are further explained and
solutions are proposed. While most of the examples relate to paving under the
FAA’s P-501 specification (portland cement concrete [PCC] pavement), the
information and concepts provided herein are equally applicable to P-401 (plant
mix bituminous pavements) projects.
Basic Definitions
What is Quality Assurance?
Strictly speaking, QA is used to describe the entire construction process, and

covers all testing, material acceptance, and placement. For the purposes of this
paper, QA is used to refer to the owner’s or sponsoring agency’s roles and
responsibilities on airport pavement construction projects. The goal of the
owner’s quality assurance program is to verify that the results from the testing and
other controls exerted by the contractor are in fact representative of actual
conditions. QA activities are typically described by a formal document, a QA
plan that describes the various responsibilities of the owner and the contractor.

The owner or owner’s appointed representative should develop a QA plan prior to
start of construction.
What is Quality Control?
Contractor QC is sometimes referred to as process control. QC refers to the

contractor’s roles and responsibilities on airport pavement construction projects.
This includes all testing, monitoring, and reporting of information deemed

important to the construction process. This is not limited to tests directly
performed by the contractor or representative testing agency, but also material
manufacturers and suppliers’ test results. The contractor is usually required to
develop a QC Plan, which is reviewed by the Owner, revised by the contractor,
and approved by the owner prior to the start of any project work.
What is Acceptance Testing?
Acceptance testing describes those tests that are conducted by either the owner or
contractor that are directly linked to pay. For example, under FAA specification
P-501 strength and thickness are monitored for acceptance (FAA 1989).
However, air content in fresh concrete is also monitored and action and
suspension units are determined, but this information is not necessarily used for
acceptance or rejection.
The project specifications dictate whether the contractor, owner or both will be
responsible for acceptance testing. In situations where both the contractor and
owner are responsible for acceptance testing, the lines of responsibility must be
clearly defined. No matter who is responsible for acceptance testing, it is good
practice on larger projects to have both the owner and the contractor witness the
acceptance testing.
Four Contracting Relationships
The following are general descriptions of the types of project contracting

relationships that are found on airport construction projects; these relationships
are illustrated in figure 1. The categories are not meant to be all-inclusive, but are
merely provided to illustrate the types of results that have been found on these
projects.
High quality contractor/high quality QC plan
Some contractors embraced the concept of QC years ago. They may have initially
created formal QC plans by being forced to through contract documents or
necessity, to achieve strength or smoothness incentives. In order to reduce risk,

Quality of QC Plan
?
Quality of Contractor
Figure 1. Impact of different levels of quality.
contractors have had to increase the assurance that the material being placed will
be acceptable to the owner. This has been accomplished over time, through the
development and refining of a QC plan, which is well understood and feasible to
implement. These types of projects typically have a friendly atmosphere and
there is a feeling of teamwork and a common purpose. Of course, this is only true
if the owner has committed to the QC/QA process.
High quality contractor/poor quality QC plan
Some contractors have been paving for almost 100 years. During that time they
have learned how to construct high-quality pavements that not only meet the
owner’s expectations but also exceed them. Unfortunately, they have not been
able to make the shift to the QC environment and often get bogged down in the
extensive submittal and documentation processes required under QC contracts.
From the owner’s perspective, the contractor can appear unorganized and
disinterested in quality. The good news is that the owner will still get a quality
product; it will just be more difficult to document the process and provide the
proper level of assurance that the pavement was constructed properly.
Poor quality contractor/high quality QC plan
Throughout the entire bidding process, this type of contractor says all of the right
things. After award, he rolls out a thick, apparently detailed, QC plan for all to
see and lets everyone know that on many previous projects this plan worked great.

The owner’s representatives give the plan a cursory review and stamps “approved
without comments” on it and it is time to begin.
This is the most dangerous situation for an owner on airport construction projects.
Shortly into the construction project, usually when the first batch of material
arrives on the job, the owner starts asking questions about things like quality
control charts, testing requirements, material submittals, inspector’s certifications,
and so on. The contractor says “no problem” and keeps paving. Before anyone
knows it the job is 50 percent complete and there is no level of assurance that the
material meets the project specifications. This happens because the contractor has
misrepresented himself and the owner did not ask the right questions during the
QC plan review.
Poor quality contractor/poor quality QC plan
The only advantage of this scenario is that you know what you are getting. The
contractor that you were dreading was the low bidder. You already know that
they think QC is a waste of time and give it lip service from the top down. The
head of the QC process is also the paving foreman. No separation of power will
lead to a long project for all.
Although the above discussion focuses on the contractor’s QC plans, the same
observations could be made regarding the owner’s QA plans. Experienced
inspectors may not totality understand QC/QA projects, and may still try to
dictate the contractor’s actions even if they are in conflict with the approved QC
plan. Inspectors may also not understand the impact of field decisions and
inadvertently delay the project because of bureaucratic requirements.
In addition, the contractor and owner are under the same three basic constraints of
time, money, and quality. At times, these three items can appear to be at the
opposite ends of a triangle as shown in figure 2. Sometimes improved quality
may take a little longer and cost a little more. Does reduced time have to cost
more and sacrifice quality? If we spend less, such as the lowest bidder, do we
sacrifice quality?

Quality
Cost Time
Figure 2. Opposing forces acting on airport pavement construction projects.
Review of Quality Control/Quality Assurance Plans
General
Chain of Command/Decision Making
In order for QC/QA projects to work, a clear understanding of who is responsible

for making decisions is important. This applies to both the owner and contractor.
The more project decisions that can be made in the field the better the chances are
that a quality product will be obtained. Both the QC and QA plans should clearly
identify who is responsible for all decisions at every level. Spelling out these
responsibilities before the project begins helps to ensure that those with the
greatest knowledge of day-to-day project operations are given the responsibility
and authority to make most of the decisions.
Separation of Tasks
The contractor’s QC team on any paving project should be accountable to project

management and not the paving superintendent. This allows the QC personnel
the freedom to execute the QC plan without worrying about being overruled by
the paving team, whose primary focus is on production. Even if the tasks are
separate, the management must support the individual roles of the QC and paving
groups. This philosophy should also apply to the owner’s QA team.
Support of Management (Top Down)
As with any initiative that an organization may undertake, the support of upper
management is essential. If the management only gives “lip service” to the

QC/QA process, shortcuts will almost certainly be taken. Such shortcuts usually
result in quality being sacrificed for production as soon as the schedule appears to
be slipping.
Review of the Quality Control Plan
Project specification requirements

The project specifications are a starting point for any contractor QC plan. The
contractor must demonstrate that he has an understanding of the basic project
requirements and present a systematic plan to meet those stated requirements.
Part of the QC plan will be a reiteration of what is contained in the specifications.
This should not be considered redundant but should be reviewed to verify that the
contractor has addressed all of the project requirements. On the other hand, the
QC plan cannot entirely consist of the reiteration of the specifications, because the
specifications do not usually say how the project is to be delivered.
Good practice requirements
When creating a QC plan, the contractor must understand current good practices
for construction. No set of plans and specifications, no matter how diligently they
were prepared, is totally complete. The contractor should include any practices
regarding construction methods in the QC plan.
Applicable national standards
In addition to the specifications and good practice, the contractor must also be
aware of applicable national standards. Standards such as those prepared by
ASTM, FAA, American Concrete Institute (ACI), Asphalt Institute (AI), and
others can significantly impact the project. In some cases, they may even
contradict the project specifications. The QC plan presents an opportunity to
demonstrate an understanding of national standards and clarify expectations.
Testing requirements and frequency
The required tests and testing frequencies outlined in the project specifications
should be considered a minimum. The contractor should modify the testing
frequency to properly monitor construction materials and processes. In addition,
other applicable tests that are planned by the contractor should also be included in
the QC plan.

Testing Logistics
On QC/QA projects a balance must be established. The balance must be made to

accommodate the need for quality materials and testing and production. This
does not mean that quality should be compromised. For example, air content for
PCC is an important part of the QC plan. The project specifications or approved
QC plan may call for the first three trucks each day to be tested, and then one test
every 40 m3. While this is inconvenient to initial production, with proper

planning it should not significantly impact production. If, on the other hand, all
trucks were tested, production would come to a crawl while no measurable impact
on quality would be achieved.
A detailed discussion of testing logistics should occur before each new phase of
the project; i.e., subgrade preparation, base construction, and surface paving. The
storage and transport of test specimens should also be discussed. This is
especially important when adverse paving conditions, such as hot or cold weather,
are likely to be encountered.
The logistics of acceptance testing should also be discussed. Remember that

acceptance tests are those QC or QA tests that are used to accept or reject
payment for each item. Knowing who needs to be involved in the testing process
for each item will save a lot of time in the field.
Review of the Quality Assurance Plan
In general, as much time should be put into the review of the QA plan as the QC
plan. This plan is an important part of the project and will assist the construction
manager and QA manager to clearly understand the defined roles and
responsibilities once the project begins.
Project specification requirements
As with the QC plan, the project specifications are a starting point for any QA
plan. The QA team must demonstrate their understanding of the basic project
requirements. The QA plan should also include a QC submittal review schedule
for requests for information and daily testing requirements. The more timely the
review, the less chance that the contractor will get bogged down in the details of
the paper work.
Good practice requirements
The QA team must be aware of good practice construction practices that may not
have been covered in the project specifications. Many contractors work

nationally, and may have experience at other airports with construction practices
that contribute to a high quality final product. When working to implement these
practices on a project, the QA team should be sensitive to any items not
specifically addressed in the contract documents, as the contractor may not be
required to implement them. At the same time, the QA team should not
automatically prohibit good practices with which they are unfamiliar. A
team/partnering atmosphere is important when implementing new practices
during an existing project.
Applicable national standards
As with the QC plan, the QA team must be aware of applicable national standards
and how they impact the project. When possible, these national standards should
be further explained in the QA plan with specific references to portions of the
standards if the entire standard does not apply. If the QC plan and QA plan both
contain details regarding national standards, any differences will be known from
the onset and can be resolved before the project begins.
Testing requirements
The purpose of the QA plan is not to duplicate every test that the contractor
makes under the QC plan, but to verify that the contractor is properly conducting
those tests. The QA plan may only require that 10 to 20 percent of all tests be
conducted side-by-side. The QA plan should also include expected ranges of test
results for comparing the test results. For example, if the air content of fresh
concrete is within plus or minus 0.4 percent, the testing is considered to meet
accepted standards. If the tests are outside of the acceptable ranges then an action
plan must be included in the QA plan. In this example, the first action item may
be for the QC and QA inspectors to immediately perform an additional side-by-
side test, or to have the QC inspector redo the test under the observation of the
QA inspector. When setting acceptable ranges, it is necessary to review the
precision and bias statements in ASTM specifications and typical standard
deviations of construction materials (NCHRP 1996). AASHTO (1995) also
includes procedures such as D2S, paired t-test and F & t tests.
In addition to side-by-side testing, random independent sampling and testing

should be conducted. While side-by-side testing is used to evaluate the sampling
and testing variability of the contractor, independent testing can evaluate the
material variability. In addition, independent QA sampling may be combined
with the contractor QC sampling to increase the population size while side-by-
side testing cannot.

Executing the Quality Assurance Plan
In order for a QA plan to be effective, all parties representing the owner (and
there can be many of those on a large project), must believe in and support the
QA personnel. As soon as the contractor knows they can go over the head of the
QA personnel, the plan will disintegrate. Therefore, during the execution of the
QA plan procedures must follow the formal document as closely as possible and,
when deviations occur, all affected individuals and groups must support the
change.
How much testing is really needed?
When QC/QA project specifications were originally introduced, the contractor

and owner ran all tests side-by-side. If the intent was to reduce the cost and
burden of testing on the owner, that certainly was not one of the initial results. A
concrete paving contractor once said during one of the company’s first QC/QA
projects that there were more people performing testing than there were running
the paving operation! This approach reflected the existing mutual lack of trust.
This dual testing was, and still is in many cases, true for any test that impacts
acceptance and thus the contractor’s expected pay.
The amount of duplicate testing will vary depending on the size of the project.
Many local DOT specifications offer guidelines that indicate a range of QA
testing between 10 and 20 percent testing of QC testing is appropriate. The
smaller the project, the higher the matching testing should be. Remember that the
purpose of QA testing is not to validate the material but to validate the
contractor’s testing methods. The QA test results may not exactly match those of
the QC testing, but should be within acceptable testing variability. For example,
if two concrete beams fabricated from the same sublot are within 350 kPa
(assuming a required strength of 5,100 kPa), they should be considered the same
for QA purposes because the ASTM standard for flexural strength testing says
results of two different laboratories on beams made from the same concrete batch
may differ by as much as 19 percent, or approximately 970 kPa for this example
(ASTM 1994).
How much inspection is really needed?
Just like testing, the amount of inspection will vary on each project. On
traditional projects, the Resident Engineer and contractor’s Project Superintendent
were on site the majority of the time and handled most of the construction issues.
Today, many other parties are involved, such as the contractor’s testing company,
owner’s testing company, designer, material suppliers, and so on, and all issues
may not be resolved by the full-time on site field personnel. As noted above, an
10

organizational chart must be included as part of both the QC and QA plan. Key
people must either be on site or readily accessible to make critical decisions. As a
minimum, representatives of both the contractor and owner with decision-making
authority should be on site at all times during the project. During major activities
such as base or pavement construction, additional personnel may be required. On
larger projects, representatives from testing agencies may also need to be present.
Additional Project Constraints
Fast-Track projects
Discussions with several airport owners over the past 10 years suggest that very
few of them believe that quality airport pavements can be constructed under fast-
track conditions. However, quality does not have to be negatively impacted by a
fast-track schedule as long as the proper time has been put into the development
of the QC and QA plans. Fast-track projects do put increased pressure on the
field testing personnel to not only conduct more tests but to also document and
report those tests more quickly. These pressures can be successfully addressed
through efficient and frequent communication between testing and paving
personnel.
Hot and Cold Weather
In our recent experience, no section of the project specifications has caused more
turmoil and friction between the contractor and owner than hot and cold weather
concrete practices. Since both of these are defined in detail in ACI specifications
for PCC paving, and in various National Asphalt Pavement Association and AI
publications for hot-mix asphalt (and these documents are usually referenced in
project P-401 and P-501 specifications), it might be assumed that there should not
be any problem. We think that it is something that both the contractor and owner
avoid because they hope that the project will be constructed in ideal paving
conditions. We strongly recommend that both the QC and QA plans have a
detailed section covering these items, whether or not they are expected to occur.
All parties must be in agreement prior to construction regarding when hot and
cold weather paving practices are required, who is responsible for any
additionally required construction steps, and whether additional compensation is
allowed.
Politics and Airlines
As anyone who has worked on a major commercial airport knows, change occurs
quickly. Airlines are reluctant to give up gate access or to approve of closures to
runways or taxiways, and even when they do agree, they always want the
11

pavement reopened quickly. Politics impact the priorities at airports and these
priorities can also change quickly. It is not the intent of QC and QA plans to
account for these changes, but if the plans are sound, the negative impacts of
changes at airports can be minimized.
Conclusions and Recommendations

Airport pavement construction projects are under more pressure than ever to be
completed in a timely fashion under sometimes adverse construction conditions.
It is therefore more important than ever to establish the initial “rules of
engagement,” in the form of QC and QA plans. By definition, high quality QC
and QA plans are specific and reasonable, comprehensive and far reaching, and
must also accomplish the goals of the owner. The construction of quality airfield
pavements should not be left to chance, and the QC/QA process is the best way to
achieve that under existing specifications.
The following recommendations are offered to improve QC/QA projects.
• Bid documents, project specifications, QC plans, and QA plans should all

describe specific requirements, responsibilities, and expectations.
• Understand the impact of references to national standards and guidelines.
• For every project, create a clear organization chart and chain-of-command
structure, complete with names of personnel and contact information.
• Separate the actual implementation of the QC and QA plans from the
paving and construction management procedures.
• Clearly define the QC submittal and review process, including a timetable,
as part of the bid documents.
• Create an action plan for test results that both meet and are outside of
specified limits that includes specific corrective action or process
checklists.
• Clearly define a process for field changes to plans and specifications that
impact design, materials, or the means of placement.
• Specified material testing tolerances should be based on actual test data
and, where possible, local test data.
• The decision-making authority for QC and QA team field personnel
should be clearly defined. The objective of the QC/QA project plans
should be to keep project decisions in the field and at the lowest possible
level.
• Clearly define a dispute resolution procedure for project test results.
• The support of upper management is essential.
• Never underestimate the importance of properly trained field personnel
who believe in the QC/QA process.
12

References
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

1995. “Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of
Sampling and Testing.” Standard Recommended Practice for Acceptance
Sampling Plans for Highway Construction. AASHTO, Washington, D.C.
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). 1994. "Standard Test
Method for Flexural Strength of Concrete (Using Simple Beam with Third-Point
Loading)." ASTM Designation C78-94. Annual Book of ASTM Standards,
Volume 4.02. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken,
PA.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 1989. Standards for Specifying

Construction of Airports. Advisory Circular AC 150/5370-10A, Changes 1-12.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration,
Washington, DC.
National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). 1996. Variability

of Highway Pavement Construction. NCHRP Synthesis of Highway Practice 232.
Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Related Materials
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). 1991. "Practice for
Acceptance of Evidence Based on the Results of Probability Sampling." ASTM
Designation E141-91. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 14.02.
American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA.
Transportation Research Board (TRB). 1996. “Glossary of Highway Quality

Assurance Terms.” Transportation Research Circular 457. Transportation
Research Board, Washington, D.C.
13


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QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR AIRPORT PAVEMENT CONSTRUCTION:

PLANNING FOR SUCCESS

John E. Naughton, III, P.E.1

David G. Peshkin, P.E.2

In the past, on a typical airport construction project, the contractor was

While QC/QA projects are fairly widespread, a thorough understanding of the

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

While quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) projects are fairly widespread, a

What is Quality Assurance?

Strictly speaking, QA is used to describe the entire construction process, and

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

What is Quality Control?

Contractor QC is sometimes referred to as process control. QC refers to the

This includes all testing, monitoring, and reporting of information deemed

What is Acceptance Testing?

Four Contracting Relationships

The following are general descriptions of the types of project contracting

High quality contractor/high quality QC plan

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Figure 1. Impact of different levels of quality.

High quality contractor/poor quality QC plan

Poor quality contractor/high quality QC plan

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Poor quality contractor/poor quality QC plan

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Figure 2. Opposing forces acting on airport pavement construction projects.

Review of Quality Control/Quality Assurance Plans

Chain of Command/Decision Making

In order for QC/QA projects to work, a clear understanding of who is responsible

The contractor’s QC team on any paving project should be accountable to project

Support of Management (Top Down)

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Review of the Quality Control Plan

Project specification requirements

Good practice requirements

Applicable national standards

Testing requirements and frequency

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

On QC/QA projects a balance must be established. The balance must be made to

every 40 m3. While this is inconvenient to initial production, with proper

The logistics of acceptance testing should also be discussed. Remember that

Review of the Quality Assurance Plan

Project specification requirements

Good practice requirements

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

during an existing project.

Applicable national standards

In addition to side-by-side testing, random independent sampling and testing

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

How much testing is really needed?

When QC/QA project specifications were originally introduced, the contractor

How much inspection is really needed?

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Additional Project Constraints

Hot and Cold Weather

Politics and Airlines

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

Conclusions and Recommendations

The following recommendations are offered to improve QC/QA projects.

• Bid documents, project specifications, QC plans, and QA plans should all

Copyright ASCE 2004 Air Transport 2002

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 1989. Standards for Specifying

National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). 1996. Variability