APRIL 2016 FHWA-HIF-16-002

Tech Brief
EFFECTIVE QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR
CONCRETE PAVING OPERATIONS
Best Practices for Concrete Pavements
BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
This tech brief looks at the elements needed to implement an effective quality
assurance (QA) program for concrete paving operations. The benefit of a good
QA program far outweighs the costs for both the agency and contractors.
The topic of QA can be intimidating, but all of us make quality-based judgments
in our lives every day. This tech brief aims to outline the basics of an effective
quality system for concrete pavements using new technologies.
Commitment
Quality at any organization is a top-down philosophy to build with high quality.
The key is to understand that all parties can save money by aiming for high
quality, because it saves them from needing to budget for replacing mistakes or
premature failures.
If the corporate philosophy is that quality is not negotiable, it is a lot easier
to implement an effective program that delivers a reliable transportation
infrastructure to the tax-paying public, cost effectively.
It is tempting to not bother with quality and to save that inspector’s salary, but
mistakes happen and the low-bid system incentivizes cutting corners. Errors
may only become apparent long after the final payments are made, potentially
leaving the owner agency with a very expensive repair bill or a far shorter life
than originally planned for the pavement.
Motivation
Work toward quality is only possible if every person understands what is in it
for them. Does it save money? Will the pavement last longer? Will we need a
lawyer or a party-planner at the end of the contract? Will I keep my job or be
able to land future contracts with this agency?

FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory (MCL) 2011

Use of MIT-SCAN-T2 device to measure jointed plain concrete pavement thickness
2 Best Practices for Concrete Pavements / Effective Quality Assurance for Concrete Paving Operations

THE AGENCY two results are within the allowable tolerance for that
Federal regulations require each state highway agency test, the tester “passes” their IA evaluation.
to have a QA system in place to assess the quality of Dispute Resolution
items produced. The aim is to ensure that the public’s
dollar is spent wisely. The reason for having a systematic Dispute resolution refers to the referee process used when
approach to quality is to consistently assess and pay the test results from the owner/agency laboratory do not
for items provided on construction projects. The primary agree with results from the contractor laboratory. Typically,
components are discussed below. an independent, qualified, laboratory not involved in the
original testing is used as the referee.
Owner/Agency Acceptance
It is the responsibility of the owner/agency to establish how THE CONTRACTOR
it will accept and pay for work done under a construction Like the agency, effective contractors must be committed
contract. The acceptance process should focus only on from the top down to delivering products that are
factors that are directly related to the ultimate performance acceptable to their clients. Unlike the agency, the
of the product. contractor must consider all aspects of the construction
process.
Rigorous inspection is a key part of the acceptance
process. A concrete mixture can perform well in the Corporate Culture
laboratory, yet be unacceptable if the workmanship at
Emphasis should be placed on using the quality system to
the site is poor. The agency should also insist that the
teach and encourage good practices at all levels. Failures
contractor implement an effective quality control (QC) plan.
should become training opportunities rather than tools to
Quality Control punish individual employees.
QC is the act of monitoring progress toward the final Internal policies are needed to guide every aspect of a
product to ensure it will meet acceptance criteria. The QA project. The guidelines should include the following:
specification should mandate a minimum level of QC.
• Plant calibration steps and responsibilities
Experience has shown that better contractors often exceed
• Tools used to evaluate the properties of aggregates
minimum requirements because an effective QC program
enhances productivity and reduces the risk of failure. A QC • Cementitious materials handling, testing, and monitoring
plan should detail the activities that will be performed by • Testing frequency and tolerances
the contractor and monitored and enforced by the agency.
• Degree of overdesign
Personnel Qualifications
Technical staff must be given the authority to initiate
Individuals performing sampling, testing, and inspection, changes when corrective actions are required, even if the
for all QA activities, must be suitably trained, qualified, changes are costly. This authority to initiate a proactive
and ethical. This is because their findings have direct response demonstrates management’s commitment to
implications on pay. The specification should establish quality and helps show project staff what the company
which qualifications are required and which individuals perspective is on “good enough.”
should have these qualifications.
Trained and Experienced Managerial Technical Staff
Laboratory Qualifications
A well-trained and experienced managerial technical staff
Laboratory qualification is part of a QA system for the is a key to reducing risk. The value added in having this
same reason as personnel qualification. Laboratories level of expertise on projects greatly exceeds the cost to
should be accredited through the American Association the company. These professionals are able to optimize
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) the concrete design mixture and often reduce the cost of
accreditation program or an equivalent. materials, as well as improve the constructability of the
Independent Assurance concrete. These personnel are able to monitor test results,
analyze the test data, and then initiate changes during
Independent assurance (IA) refers to the periodic checking construction when needed.
done on the individuals and equipment performing
sampling and testing activities. The IA process assures QC managers are responsible for using process control
that these professionals continue to provide accurate to ensure that the product will be accepted by the agency.
results. Two concepts are important: A skilled QC manager knows when to act and, equally
important, when not to act.
• IA is conducted using split samples to remove material
The result is improved control of the mixture and a lower
and construction-related variability.
standard deviation in the test results. This adds value by
• The IA evaluation addresses only the accuracy of the helping the contractor to bid and produce mixtures, with
test result, not the actual result itself. For example, if a less overdesign, that are more economical but still meet
test sample fails to meet the specification’s limit, yet the the requirements of the contract.
 Best Practices for Concrete Pavements / Effective Quality Assurance for Concrete Paving Operations 3

New Technologies The following sections briefly describe new technologies

and tests that are available and when they should be
Utilizing new technologies to gather better data, sooner,
used. Detailed information on these tests is available in the
can reduce risk and improve the finished product. Many
references provided.
new and often nondestructive tests can provide information
instantly and aid a contractor in monitoring the process to Box Test – Workability (Mixture Design Phase)
assure that it is under control.
The box test is a simple and economical test method to
Materials Selection evaluate if a concrete mixture is suitable for slip-formed
concrete paving (Cook et al. 2014). This test measures the
Materials selection is critical to the development of a
response of the concrete to vibration and the ability of the
concrete mixture so it will not only meet the project
concrete to hold an edge.
requirements but also positively affect the construction
process. Running mixture trials and evaluating products The box test is a (contractor) QC test.
prior to bid letting is very important to ensuring that the
VKelly Test – Workability (Mixture Design Phase)
cost of the project is known and surprises don’t pop up.
This work should be the responsibility of the individuals The vibrating Kelly ball test (VKelly test) is a tool that also
with quality management responsibilities. assesses the response of a mixture to vibration (Taylor et
al. 2015). Like the box test, the VKelly test can be used to
It is important for QC management personnel to
guide the design of slip-formed concrete mixtures and to
understand that the process of materials selection is much
assess any changes during construction due to changes in
greater than just the contract testing requirements. Some
source materials or the environment.
examples include the following:
The VKelly test is a (contractor) QC test.
• Cost/benefit considerations
• Performance of alternative materials sources
• Haul distances
• Delivery method
• Placement equipment
Qualified personnel recognize during the mixture design
process and evaluation that a mixture made in the
laboratory acts differently in the field. First, the small
laboratory mixer is different from the large drum mixer
used in mainline paving. Also, the weather is not normally
72°F in the field as it was in the laboratory. Humidity,
sunshine, and night conditions all affect the properties and
behavior of the concrete.
Jagan Gudimettla/FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory (MCL) 2015
TEST METHODS Box test result for a stiff mixture
Construction of concrete pavements is complex and the
service life of the pavement is dependent on many factors.
The process of building a concrete pavement is as critical
as the materials that go into it. Therefore, we need to
measure the right properties at the right time, and often
watch the process as well, to be assured that the quality is
indeed “good enough.”
Traditionally, the only tests available were strength, slump,
air content, and thickness. These tests have been the
backbone for specifications for decades, despite their poor
correlation with long-term performance in modern systems.
The lack of more effective tests has been a significant
barrier to implementation of performance specifications.
However, recent years have seen some major advances
in the concrete testing arena. Several new tests are now
available that are more practical, faster, more economical,
easier to implement in the field, and measure properties National Concrete Pavement Technology (CP Tech) Center
that are related to actual concrete and pavement quality. Use of the vibrating Kelly ball test (left) to assess response to vibration
Many of these tests could be incorporated in QA programs for mixture workability and super air meter (right) for indication of air
while others are more suitable for QC activities. distribution in concrete for freeze-thaw durability
4

Super Air Meter – Freeze-Thaw Durability (Mixture

Design Stage – Production Stage)
The presence of closely spaced air voids in concrete is
recognized as the primary factor in improving the freeze-
thaw durability of concrete. Normal tests performed on
fresh concrete provide information on the total air content
of the sample, but do not give any indication of the quality
of the air void system. Petrographic methods (ASTM
C457) and freeze-thaw tests (ASTM C666) take many
days and therefore are of little value in monitoring concrete
during construction.
The super air meter (SAM) is a field test that gives an
indication of the distribution of air in concrete (Ley and
Tabb 2014). The test takes just over 10 minutes to run and
Jagan Gudimettla/FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory (MCL) 2014 provides immediate information about the air void quality in
Semiadiabatic calorimeter used to indicate relative performance and the fresh concrete.
uniformity of materials
This test could be used both as a QC and as an
acceptance test.
MIT-SCAN-T2 – Pavement Thickness (Construction
Stage)
The service life of a concrete pavement is significantly
influenced by the pavement thickness. However,
coring to measure thickness is destructive, expensive,
and time consuming. The MIT-SCAN-T2 uses pulse
induction technology to measure pavement thickness
nondestructively using a metal target pre-placed on the top
of the base prior to paving.
This test could be used as both a QC and an acceptance
FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory (MCL) 2011 test for jointed plain concrete pavement.
Nondestructive MIT Scan-2 device used to measure dowel bar positions
embedded in jointed plain concrete pavements MIT Scan-2 – Dowel Alignment (Construction Stage)
Properly aligned dowel bars help provide load transfer
Semiadiabatic Calorimetry – Chemistry Consistency between panels in jointed plain concrete pavements.
(Mixture Design – Production Phase) Misaligned dowels may lead to joint locking that can cause
slabs to crack. Insufficient embedment leads to a decrease
Hydration of cementitious materials is exothermic,
in load transfer efficiency, which can result in faulting and
meaning that the progress of the chemical reactions
other pavement distresses.
can be monitored by measuring the total heat liberated
over time using a semiadiabatic calorimeter (ASTM The MIT Scan-2 is a nondestructive testing device for
C1753). The shape of the power curve obtained through measuring the position of dowel bars embedded in
calorimetry is an indicator of relative performance and concrete. The device helps in determining the horizontal
uniformity of cementitious materials. alignment, vertical alignment, side shift, and depth of the
dowel bar from the top of the pavement (Rao et al. 2009).
This is a (contractor) QC test.
This test could be used as both a QC and an acceptance
Surface Resistivity – Permeability/Durability (Mixture
test for jointed plain concrete pavement.
Design Phase – Production Phase)
Permeability is an indicator of concrete durability because Surface resistivity provides an
most damage mechanisms involve the presence of water. indirect measure of permeability,
Mixtures that limit the transportation of fluids through which is an indicator of
the pore system tend to be longer lasting. A good test to concrete’s potential durability
measure permeability directly doesn’t exist, but resistivity
provides an indirect measure (Rupnow and Icenogle 2012)
because electricity is more readily conducted through
fluids than through solids.
This test could be used as both a QC and an acceptance
test. National Concrete Pavement Technology (CP Tech) Center
 5

HIPERPAV III REFERENCES

HIPERPAV III is a software program, sponsored by the ASTM International. 2015. Standard Practice for Evaluating Early
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), that can be used Hydration of Hydraulic Cementitious Mixtures Using Thermal
to predict early-age cracking risk related to moisture and Measurements. ASTM C1753-15. West Conshohocken, PA.
———. 2015. Standard Test Method for Resistance of Concrete to
temperature changes within the pavement (Rasmussen et Rapid Freezing and Thawing. ASTM C666/666M-15. West
al. 2002). The software is useful in assessing conditions Conshohocken, PA.
for both jointed plain concrete pavement and continuously ———. 2012. Standard Test Method for Microscopical Determination
reinforced concrete pavement. of Parameters of the Air-Void System in Hardened Concrete.
ASTM C457/457M-12. West Conshohocken, PA.
The current version of the software includes the ability to Cook, M. D., M. T. Ley, and A. Ghaeezadeh. 2014. A Workability
compare different construction scenarios and to compare Test for Slip Formed Concrete Pavements. Construction and
cracking risk at different times during the day. Weather Building Materials. Vol. 68, October 2014, pp. 376-383.
data can be automatically downloaded from the National FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory (MCL). 2011. I-80 Reconstruction,
Emigrant Gap, CA. MCL Project Report # CA1104.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website. Washington, DC.
Gudimettla, J. 2015. FHWA Mobile Concrete Laboratory’s Recent
LIMITS Field Experience with New/Innovative Tests. Presentation at
The challenge is defining how good is good enough. the National Concrete Consortium, Milwaukee, WI, September
15, 2015. Last accessed March 8, 2016 at www.cptechcenter.
How do we know we’ve achieved adequate quality? If we org/ncc/F2015%20NCC/Gudimettla-PEM%20tests-sec.pdf.
have not, how bad is the problem and what is the sub- ———. 2014. I-29 Reconstruction, Reynolds, ND. FHWA Mobile
standard pavement worth or should it be replaced? Are we Concrete Laboratory (MCL) Project Report # ND1404.
measuring the right things? Washington, DC.
Ley, M. T., and B. Tabb. 2014. A Test Method to Measure the Freeze
Utilizing the test results effectively is at the heart of a Thaw Durability of Fresh Concrete Using Overpressure.
quality effort. Control charts plot consecutive test results Transportation and Development Institute (T&DI) of the
to provide a visual track of the trends of the production. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Congress,
Setting limits that trigger actions is the companion step. Orlando, FL, June 8, 2014, pp. 79-87.
Rao, S., K. Hoegh, T. Yu, and L. Khazanovich. 2009. Evaluation
Contractors will set action limits to mark the point of Dowel Alignment Constructability in Portland Cement
when something must be changed if a limit is crossed. Concrete Pavements. Transportation Research Record:
Journal of the Transportation Research Board. No. 2098, pp.
Specification limits are set by the agency to define
86-93.
acceptable work. Engineering limits are the final step, Rasmussen, R. O., J. M. Ruiz, D. K. Rozycki, and B. F. McCullough.
beyond which the product is unacceptable. Between the 2002. Constructing High-Performance Concrete
specification limits and the engineering limits, agencies Pavements with FHWA HIPERPAV Systems Analysis
normally set degrees of penalty to account for the Software. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
deficiency of the work. Transportation Research Board. No. 1813, pp. 11-20.
Rupnow, T., and P. Icenogle. 2012. Surface Resistivity Measurements
Evaluated as Alternative to Rapid Chloride Permeability
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Test for Quality Assurance and Acceptance. Transportation
The author wants to acknowledge the input on the content Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research
of this tech brief by the following individuals: Jim Grove, Board. No. 2290, pp. 30-37.
Taylor, P., X. Wang, and X. Wang. 2015. Concrete Pavement Mixture
Mike Praul, Jagan Gudimettla, and Pete Capon. Taylor,
Design and Analysis MDA: Development and Evaluation of
Grove, Praul, Gudimettla, and Capon recently co-authored Vibrating Kelly Ball Test (VKelly Test) for the Workability of
a paper on this topic that was accepted for the 11th Concrete. National Concrete Pavement Technology Center,
International Conference on Concrete Pavements (ICCP) Ames, IA.
in San Antonio, Texas August 28-September 1, 2016.
6

This Tech Brief was developed under Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) contract DTFH16-14-D-0005. For more
information contact:
Contracting Officer’s Representative: Author: Peter Taylor, Director
Sam Tyson, P.E., Concrete Pavement Engineer National Concrete Pavement Technology Center
Federal Highway Administration 2711 S. Loop Drive, Suite 4700
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. – E73-440 Iowa State University
Washington, DC 20590 Ames, IA 50010-8664
202-366-1326, sam.tyson@dot.gov 515-294-9333, ptaylor@iastate.edu

Distribution and Availability—This Tech Brief can be found at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pavement under

“Publications.”
Key Words—concrete pavement, paving operations, quality assurance, quality control, technologies, test methods
Notice—This Tech Brief is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the
interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained
in this document. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’
names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement—The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to
serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies
are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically
reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.

APRIL 2016 FHWA-HIF-16-002