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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14325.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14325.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14325.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2009. Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14325.
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TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2009 www.TRB.org NAT IONAL COOPERAT IVE H IGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP SYNTHESIS 401 Research Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in Cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration SUBJECT AREAS Pavement Design, Management, and Performance Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection A Synthesis of Highway Practice CONSULTANTS GERARDO FLINTSCH Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia and KEVIN K. McGHEE Virginia Transportation Research Council Charlottesville, Virginia

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administrators and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in cooperation with their state universities and others. However, the accelerating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and understanding of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communications and cooperation with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objectivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contributions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. Published reports of the NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NCHRP SYNTHESIS 401 Project 20-5 (Topic 39-01) ISSN 0547-5570 ISBN 0-309-14247-2 Library of Congress Control No. 2009936617 © 2009 Transportation Research Board COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national importance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the technical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. NOTE: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished schol- ars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and techni- cal matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Acad- emy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achieve- ments of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academyís purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Acad- emy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scien- tific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both the Academies and the Insti- tute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisci- plinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation depart- ments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

NCHRP COMMITTEE FOR PROJECT 20-5 CHAIR CATHERINE NELSON, Oregon DOT MEMBERS KATHLEEN S. AMES, Illinois DOT STUART D. ANDERSON, Texas A&M University CYNTHIA J. BURBANK, Alexandria, Virginia LISA FREESE, Scott County (MN) Public Works Division MALCOLM T. KERLEY, Virginia DOT RICHARD D. LAND, California DOT JAMES W. MARCH, Federal Highway Administration MARK A. MAREK, Texas DOT JOHN M. MASON, JR., Auburn University ANANTH PRASAD, HNTB Corporation ROBERT L. SACK, New York State DOT FRANCINE SHAW-WHITSON, Federal Highway Administration LARRY VELASQUEZ, New Mexico DOT FHWA LIAISON WILLIAM ZACCAGNINO TRB LIAISON STEPHEN F. MAHER COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMS STAFF CHRISTOPHER W. JENKS, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs NANDA SRINIVASAN, Senior Program Officer EILEEN DELANEY, Director of Publications NCHRP SYNTHESIS STAFF STEPHEN R. GODWIN, Director for Studies and Special Programs JON M. WILLIAMS, Program Director, IDEA and Synthesis Studies GAIL STABA, Senior Program Officer DONNA L. VLASAK, Senior Program Officer DON TIPPMAN, Editor CHERYL KEITH, Senior Program Assistant TOPIC PANEL THOMAS J. KAZMIEROWSKI, Ontario Ministry of Transportation STEPHEN F. MAHER, Transportation Research Board GINGER McGOVERN, Oklahoma Department of Transportation MICHAEL R. MURPHY, University of Texas–Austin OMAR SMADI, Iowa State University ERIC S. THIBODEAU, New Hampshire Department of Transportation WEIXIAN XIONG, Maryland State Highway Administration KATHRYN A. ZIMMERMAN, Applied Pavement Technology, Urbana, Il ARAMIS LOPEZ, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) THOMAS VAN, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors would like to recognize the contributions of Captain Jordan Hudak, Instructor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, United States Air Force Academy, while pursuing graduate studies at Virginia Tech. Mr. Hudak prepared the survey of practice, processed the information, and prepared a report that was used in the synthesis. The contribution of the many highway and transporta- tion agencies that responded to the survey and subsequent requests of information was fundamental for capturing the state of the practice. Valuable assistance in the preparation of the Synthesis was also provided by the Topic panel, consisting of Thomas J. Kazmierowski, Manager, Materials Engineering and Research Office, Ontario Ministry of Transportation; Ginger McGovern, Division Engineer, Oklahoma Department of Transportation; Michael R. Murphy, Research Fellow, University of Texas; Omar Smadi, Research Scientist, Center for Trans- portation Research, Iowa State University; Eric S. Thibodeau, Pavement Management Chief, Bureau of Materials and Research, New Hampshire Department of Transportation; Weixian Xiong, Assistant Division Chief, Pavement and Geotechnical Division, Maryland State Highway Administration; Kathryn A. Zimmerman, President, Applied Pavement Technology, Inc.; Aramis Lopez, LTPP Team Leader, Turner–Fairbank Highway Research Center, Federal Highway Administration; Thomas Van, Federal Highway Administration; Stephen F. Maher, Engineer of Design, Technical Activities Division, Transportation Research Board; and Jon Williams, Program Director, IDEA and Synthesis Studies, Technical Activities Division, Transportation Research Board. This study was managed by Jon Williams, Program Director, IDEA and Synthesis Studies, who worked diligently with the consultants, the Topic panel, and the project 20-5 Committee in the development and review of the report.

Highway administrators, engineers, and researchers often face problems for which information already exists, either in documented form or as undocumented experience and practice. This information may be fragmented, scattered, and unevaluated. As a conse- quence, full knowledge of what has been learned about a problem may not be brought to bear on its solution. Costly research findings may go unused, valuable experience may be overlooked, and due consideration may not be given to recommended practices for solving or alleviating the problem. There is information on nearly every subject of concern to highway administrators and engineers. Much of it derives from research or from the work of practitioners faced with problems in their day-to-day work. To provide a systematic means for assembling and evaluating such useful information and to make it available to the entire highway com- munity, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials— through the mechanism of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program—authorized the Transportation Research Board to undertake a continuing study. This study, NCHRP Project 20-5, “Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Problems,” searches out and synthesizes useful knowledge from all available sources and prepares concise, documented reports on specific topics. Reports from this endeavor constitute an NCHRP report series, Synthesis of Highway Practice. This synthesis series reports on current knowledge and practice, in a compact format, without the detailed directions usually found in handbooks or design manuals. Each report in the series provides a compendium of the best knowledge available on those measures found to be the most successful in resolving specific problems. FOREWORD Transportation agencies are developing procedures and guidelines for managing the quality of pavement data collected to ensure the data meet the needs of the pavement man- agement process. This study reviews the quality management practices being employed by public highway agencies for automated, semi-automated, and manual pavement data collection and delivery. Information was gathered through literature review, surveys of U.S. state and Canadian province public agencies and private contractors, and selected interviews. Gerardo Flintsch of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Kevin McGhee of the Virginia Transportation Research Council collected and synthesized the in- formation and wrote the report. The members of the topic panel are acknowledged on the preceding page. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records the practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its preparation. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand. PREFACE By Jon Williams Program Director Transportation Research Board

CONTENTS 1 SUMMARY 5 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Objective, 5 Methodology, 5 Scope and Organization, 5 Background, 6 10 CHAPTER TWO PAVEMENT CONDITION DATA COLLECTION OVERVIEW Network- versus Project-Level Data Collection, 10 In-House versus Service Provider Collected Data, 10 Issues Associated with Location Referencing, 13 Pavement Condition Indicators, 15 Time-History Data Collection Issues, 16 Network Coverage and Sampling, 17 New Demands Imposed by Changing Business Practices, 17 Summary, 18 20 CHAPTER THREE DATA QUALITY MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS Pavement Condition Data Collection Quality Management System, 20 Background on Quality Management Concepts and Processes, 20 Importance of Quality Data to Support Pavement Management, 21 Quality Management Plans, 21 Data Management Activities, 22 Quality Control, 23 Quality Acceptance, 23 Independent Assurance, 23 Reference Values/Ground Truth, 23 Sources of Variability in Pavement Condition Data Collection, 24 Effects of Network Size on Quality Management, 27 Summary, 29 30 CHAPTER FOUR QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Quality Control, 30 Quality Acceptance, 37 Independent Verification, 41 Data Rejection, 42 Summary, 42 43 CHAPTER FIVE CASE STUDIES Maryland, 43 Virginia, 45 Oklahoma, 47 British Columbia, 48 Summary, 49

51 CHAPTER SIX FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH Summary of Findings, 51 Issues Identified, 53 Suggestions for Future Research, 54 55 GLOSSARY 57 REFERENCES 61 APPENDIX A STATE AND PROVINCIAL AGENCY SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 72 APPENDIX B SERVICE PROVIDERS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 77 APPENDIX C TABULAR RESULTS OF THE STATE AND PROVINCIAL AGENCY SURVEY 104 APPENDIX D EXAMPLE OF PAVEMENT CONDITION DATA COLLECTION REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL—LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT 133 APPENDIX E EXAMPLE OF PAVEMENT CONDITION DATA COLLECTION REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (OKLAHOMA DOT)

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Synthesis 401: Quality Management of Pavement Condition Data Collection explores the quality management practices being employed by public highway agencies for automated, semi-automated, and manual pavement data collection and delivery.

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